At the End of it All
by weepingangel20
Summary: Sequel to At the End of the Day (still working on the title, any ideas are appreciated). Picking up a year after the first story left off we find Luke and Angel working side by side, adventure, romance, and craziness ensue eventually leading to FF6 and FF7. (I'm not good with summaries, sorry)
1. Chapter 1

So here's my attempt at writing the sequel to "At the end of the day". I hope it's not disappointing, I have already planned where this is going now it's just a question of which road i'll take to get there. If the timeline seems confusing i'm sorry but i'm still new at writing so just fyi this takes place a year after the end of the first story. So basically they've been in a relationship for one year at this point (and of course their friends with benefits arrangement the year before that). As always thank you for reading and any comments/reviews are appreciated. Happy Thanksgiving!

* * *

"You couldn't have gotten at least one size bigger?" Angel croaks out as Lucy zips her into the tight dress.

"We need you to look incredibly sexy to pull this off as quickly and quietly as possible. So it has to fit like a glove." Lucy replies as she tugs on the zipper and closes the snap. She and Meg take a step back and grin in approval.

"You look amazing!" Meg smiles as she takes out her phone and takes a pic.

Angel turns to face the both of them, "I will kill you both when we're done."

"You've been saying that for years and you still haven't followed through." Lucy says shaking her head. "Besides, you love us."

Angel takes a deep breath, or tries to at least but her ribs can't quite expand in the tight red material. "You guys couldn't pick another color?" She's always felt too bashful for red, and as she studies herself in the mirror she feels her cheeks reddening to match the dress. "I look like a hooker." She says pulling on the end of the dress trying desperately to make it stretch another 2-3 inches to at least cover her to mid-thigh.

Meg swats her hands away, "Stop it, this dress is expensive and you'll ruin the material."

"And you don't look like a hooker," Lucy adds with a pat to her shoulder. "but more like a high end call girl." She grins then steps back quickly as Angel reaches to grab her.

A knock on the door catches their attention, "You girls almost ready, we got a timeframe to work with." Michael calls out.

"I'm ready." Angel sighs in frustration. When they'd been given this job she hadn't been too worried. Simple find and grab, but of course what starts out simple rarely stays that way and when they'd found their target it had lead them to an even bigger fish. Alexander Capouro, mass murderer and known arms dealer. As soon as she had called back home to inform David it had somehow ignited a frenzy with her superiors and DSS. Now it had become a joint venture to bring him in alive for questioning and Luke had been sent out to help.

It'd taken them one day to come up with this plan, it seemed the simplest and 'cleanest' solution to what could've possibly proven to be an epic fuck up. The man was always well guarded and had managed to evade capture for over a decade. He was good, no doubt about that but she was confident that her and her team were better.

Of course when she had come up with the plan she hadn't thought she'd be the one to go in, but since Meg was still recuperating from a sprained ankle and Lucy a bruise on her cheek they obviously couldn't play the "smoldering seductress" role so she got stuck with the job.

"Hurry up." Michael says knocking again.

Angel takes one final look in the mirror, her makeup is tastefully done, and her hair flows down past her shoulders in soft waves, her only real issue is the damned dress. The fact that she's wearing four inch heels only makes her feel as if it's even shorter than it really is. "Next time I pick the clothes." She grumbles under her breath as she makes her way out of the room.

"Wow." Michael smiles and Gabriel whistles in approval.

Angel can feel herself blushing slightly as they continue to stare until she hears Luke clear his throat which quickly catches their attention.

"Oh," Michael says looking over at Luke, "Sorry big guy."

Luke steps forward while Lucy and the others find something to keep them occupied for a few moments, giving the couple a few seconds alone before moving forward with the mission. Angel can feel his eyes moving over her and she suddenly feels even more self-conscious and squirms uncomfortably under his gaze.

Luke reaches out his hand, touching her chin and gently lifting her gaze to meet his. When she sees the look in his eyes she feels her heart flutter, in their deep brown depths she sees love and a hunger that she's come to know so well over the past 2 years. "You look…" he takes a deep breath while he tries to find the right word. "Beautiful just doesn't cut it." He says truthfully.

She smiles as she leans into his touch, her arms going around his shoulders as his wrap around her waist. "Aww, you're so sweet."

"Oh god these two never stop." She hears Lucy mumbling in the corner.

"I like the dress." Luke says as he focuses on how the material hugs her every curve, accentuating her 'assets'. From her head to her toes, the ways she's dressed tonight screams sex, and usually he'd be more than happy to answer but it does bother him that she'll be walking out into a room with other men who will also be able to enjoy the view.

"I'll give you a private viewing of all its details when we're done." Angel says as she noticed his serious look she's come to associate with him being jealous. "You just have to promise to be careful with it because it was very expensive." She adds remembering his track record with most of her outfits.

He grins before leaning in for a kiss. He meant to keep it short but their passion quickly begins to burn and a few moments pass before he feels something hit his back. They pull apart and he glances at the ground behind him seeing the pillow on the ground. He looks up and sees Lucy shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Am I gonna have to get some cold water for you two or can we move on now?" She says with her hands on her hips.

"I'm good to go." Angel says suddenly filled with confidence and renewed energy, she glances once more at Luke and winks before walking towards the Suite's double doors. "Com check." She says looking back at Lucy who gives her the thumbs up, then Luke and her walk out the room.

"_Remember to act like a body guard, not a boyfriend 'kay Luke." _He hears Lucy in his ear piece.

He doesn't bother answering and follows behind Angel as they make their way to the elevator. As they step in she looks over at him, "You look good too by the way." She says quietly as they ride down. He's wearing a tailored black suit with a black shirt and tie, very flattering.

He smiles at her, wishing that he could hit the emergency stop button on the elevator to give them a few moments together because he's finding it very hard to keep his hands to himself when she's looking so sexy in the little red dress.

"You ready?" he asks trying his best to refocus on the task at hand.

She nods her head, hands clenching and unclenching her fists as she breathes steadily to calm the slight nerves that have started to build. She's run a ton of missions in her long career, but situations where she has to play a character like this were always out of her comfort zone.

The elevator doors slide open and they're on the ground floor of one of the ritziest casino resorts in Montenegro, as soon as they step out of the elevator she's met with the onslaught of noise from the casino floor. She glances over at Luke, he nods his head slightly as they make their way to the high end tables.

"_He's over in the High Roller's lounge, it's an exclusive room so you have to play big to go in, no spectating." _Michael informs them.

Angel and Luke walk through the floor, he stays just a few feet behind her trying his best to ignore the gazes and gestures they make as she walks on by. They quickly approach the large set of double doors and the two burly body guards standing outside of them. They're chatting and joking around, and as they move their jackets move slightly and Luke can see they're clearly armed. As he and Angel get closer the men take notice and stop talking, they glance briefly at Luke before Angel draws their attention and they seem to forget he's coming towards them.

His fists clench in aggravation as they step in front of them and he watches as Angel takes over. He's just the silent and frightening body guard to a wealthy client, that's his role tonight so he'll do his best to play along. It becomes even harder to keep his character when he notices that the fattest body guard's eyes are nowhere near Angel's face, and instead he seems to be undressing her with his eyes. He's so focused on imagining the world of hurt he's going to put on him when they're done that he doesn't even notice that they've stepped to the side and let them in.

"You ok?" Angel mutters, noticing his jaw tensing and his fists clenched tightly.

He takes a deep breath, "I'm fine, just making a mental note of all the men I'm going to kill when we're done tonight." He whispers.

She laughs briefly before growing serious again, they make their way through the room and she's stopped a few times by various men who ask her to blow on their dice or request that she sit by them for luck. She politely turns them down while making her way to the bar at the far end of the room.

Luke pulls out a chair and stands beside her as she orders a glass of wine. She sips on it and sits patiently waiting as she glances around the room nonchalantly and spots their target. She lifts the wineglass to her lips and whispers "He's at the table, 10 o'clock." Luke glances casually and begins taking note of the body guards surrounding the target's table. Four total, definitely armed and large but if all goes according to plan they shouldn't pose too much of a problem.

"_I see him, and his goons." _Lucy says over the com. With Meg and Gabriel's assistance they had managed to hijack the camera feed all over the casino.

Angel takes a few moments, and another sip of wine while trying to make the decision of whether or not to approach the man or make him approach her.

"_Well? What are you waiting for?"_ Lucy says playfully. "_You heading over there or what?"_

"I'm thinking." Angel replies using the wineglass to hide the movement of her lips. She hears Lucy chuckle in response.

"_Well he ain't gonna come to you so get your ass in gear." _

Angel sighs while taking another sip of her wine, and smiles slightly to herself before raising the glass to her lips once more to take the last gulp. "Wanna bet?"

"_Oh, you wanna do this?" _She can hear the cockiness in Lucy's tone.

Angel just smiles before turning to the bartender to order another glass. "Yep."

"_But you still owe me ten grand from our bet last year." _Lucy reminds her.

"_Ladies can we do this some other time please?" _She hears Michael chime in, and then after a moment and some shuffling she hears him say ouch and she fights the urge to smile.

"You forgive that if I win." Angel mumbles quickly.

"_Only if you double it when you lose?"_

Angel can see the quick glance Luke shoots her, clearly he thinks they're both insane but she just smiles assuredly. "Deal." She smiles at the bartender and thanks him for the glass before turning slowly in her seat, she slowly glances around the room. Her gaze slowly making its way to their target. She keeps it low, playing bashful but keeping sight of him using her peripheral vision. She can see that his guards are actively staring in her direction and after a few moments their interest seems to spark the curiosity of their boss and he moves in his seat, angling his head to see what's gotten their attention.

She brings the wineglass to her lips again to hide the smirk before whispering to Lucy, "Got him."

"_You do not."_

Angel slowly brings her gaze to meet the targets and offers a shy smile before turning away bashfully. She pretends to be interested in the area, glancing at the decor and at the various table games available and after a few moments glances again towards the target's direction. She makes sure not to make eye contact with him but instead acts as if she's unaware of his existence, knowing that for a man used to the attention and adoration of all women around him it'd drive his ego crazy.

She can feel his eyes on her and finally makes eye contact, he smiles daringly at her and winks and she smiles back but maintains her bashful facade. She watches as the target says something to one of his guards, then the burly man makes his way over to her and Luke. He smiles slightly at her and inclines his head to Luke, clearly recognizing him as her body guard before speaking.

"Signori Capouro would like for you to join him at his table." The large man says pleasantly in his Mediterranean accent.

She glances at Capouro before looking back at his guard and smiling gently, "You can tell Signori Capouro that I'm not a bone to be fetched, and if he'd like to invite me he can come and do so himself."

Then she hears Lucy in the background, "_God I hate you sometimes." _She adds with a chuckle, clearly realizing it's now a lost bet.

Angel turns in her chair to face the bar once more as the guard walks back, clearly shocked by her response, to tell his boss.

"What are you doing?" Luke asks completely oblivious to her game.

"Watch and learn." She says taking another sip of wine. "Take a look over at him and tell me what he's doing."

Luke casually glances from the corner of his eye and can see the guard leaning down by his boss telling him what happened, he can then see the man's reaction. "He looks pretty surprised."

"Keep watching." Angel says munching on some caviar with crackers.

"I think we'll have to go to plan B." Luke says when a few moments pass and the man does nothing but play another hand.

"Wait for it." Angel says smiling slightly.

Luke glances again and is surprised to see the man standing up and walking towards them. "Ok, he's coming over."

Angel takes a moment to smile at Luke, "Don't doubt my awesomeness." She says playfully.

"_Bitch." _She hears Lucy sigh and can imagine her grim face knowing that she now has to forgive their previous bet.

Angel pretends to be completely unaware that he's coming closer and continues sipping her wine, facing away from him. She sees Luke out of the corner of her eye, he stands tall, shoulders back and the look on his face is suddenly quite serious, then she hears Capouro.

"Good evening." His thick Italian accent would be considered charming if she didn't know who he truly was and what he's done. She turns in her seat and smiles in response. "I'm…."

"Mr. Capouro," she interrupts, "Your friend over there told me as much."

He smiles at her before straightening his back and puffing out his chest slightly, she has to fight the urge to grin as he does so. "And you are?"

She holds out her hand, palm down as he takes it gently in his. "I'm Isabella DeRosas." She says rolling the R while throwing in a bit of a Spanish accent.

"_That sounds very convincing." _She hears Michael say about her accent.

Capouro bows his head, his lips brushing softly against her knuckles before he smiles charmingly. "It's truly a pleasure to meet you Ms. DeRosas."

"Likewise Mr. Capouro." She lies wanting nothing more than to snatch her hand away from his and punch him in the face.

"Please," he says still smiling, "a beauty such as yourself may call me Alexander."

"Well then Alexander," she slowly pulls her hand away with the pretense of reaching for her wine glass, "you can call me Isabella."

He glances over at her wine glass, "What are you drinking?"

"Oh just a simple Merlot."

He shakes his head, "That simply won't do." He says snapping his fingers at the bartender.

"Yes Signori Capouro?" the bartender responds nervously.

"A bottle of the finest Champagne available." He commands and the bartender practically trips over himself running to retrieve it. "Would you do me the honor of joining me at my table?" The way he says it almost seem like a command and she'd love nothing more than to throw her wine in his face but she's got a role to play.

"Of course."

He holds his hand out to help her down from her high seat and then glances over at Luke. "Your security isn't necessary, I have plenty of my own."

"I don't go anywhere without him," she says with a smile, "the world is a very dangerous place." She watches him as his jaw tenses for a moment before he turns his attention back at her and smiles.

"That is very true." His arm makes its way around her waist, "I assure you that while in my presence no harm will come to you."

"Well how sweet." She says as she allows him to lead her to the table. Luke stays right behind her, falling in line with the other body guards. She can sense Capouro's irritation at her insistence on having him with her but if he questions her further she'll just use the story that Lucy and Meg cooked up.

The other men at the table introduce themselves, a few of their names she recognizes and the rest she can hear Lucy and Meg mumbling about in the background. She plays the interested guest and joins in on their pointless and dull conversations. They enjoy the champagne and appetizers, courtesy of Capouro who continues ordering the most expensive items on the menu in an obvious attempt at impressing her.

Luke looks on as she plays her part well and fights the urge to roll his eyes every time Capouro uses another clichéd line. A few times he has to take a deep breath and count to ten to keep from snapping his neck as his hands roam over Angel's arms and back. She of course gently dissuades his advances and removes his hands from her body without offending him.

Luke can see that he's taking it as a challenge and with each moment that passes Capouro seems to become even more enthralled with the mystery woman he'd just met. He has to admit he's impressed because when they'd first told him this plan he had thought it would never work. He should have learned by now not to underestimate them. If the past 2 years of knowing Angel has taught him anything it's that when Angel and her team get together they can accomplish almost anything.

The minutes tick by and many of the men at the table have begun retiring for the night. The remaining men are either tipsy or stoned drunk, relying on their own guards to help them head back to their respective rooms.

"And you my dear," Capouro says brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face, "are you tired?"

She smiles and can feel the soreness in her cheeks because she's never had to smile and be so polite for so long and her facial muscles just aren't used to it. "Not really."

"Perhaps we should retire to my Suite, I'm sure you must be bored with Poker by now." He leans in closer to her, his lips just a few inches from hers and she turns her head just as he moves in for the kiss.

He pulls back, clearly embarrassed and she just takes a sip of her champagne. He won't be deterred though and sees his opportunity again, this time leaning in quickly.

Luke bites back a grin when Angel catches his lips with her finger instead, "I'm no exhibitionist Alexander," she grins when she really wants to heave. "let's move this to your room."

Before he has the chance to grab her or try another kiss she stands quickly and walks sexily around the table before making a beeline for the doorway, Luke right behind her. She pauses at the door way and turns to throw him her best 'come hither' look and he's on her like a flash, his guards practically jogging to keep up.

Luke follows closely behind Angel as Capouro leads the way across the casino floor over to the private elevators. When they reach them Capouro punches in some key codes and the two elevators open up he glances at his men and then glares briefly at Luke before pointing at the second elevator, "You all take that one, we'll go up alone."

Luke can feel every muscle in his body tense up but keeps his face calm, he glances at Angel and can clearly tell that under her cool façade she's not happy about it either but if either of them push to go on the same elevator it would seem strange and alarming to Capouro. She nods and smiles at Capouro before being led into the other elevator. Luke stands behind as he watches the doors slide closed then walks in to the other elevator with the other five guards.

He moves to the back of the elevator, keeping his back against the wall and tries to look as casual and uncaring as possible but he's paying attention to every detail of those around him. They're all carrying at least one gun that he's notice, two of them also have knives. The tallest man seems to be the leader of the group and he's the strong silent type, the other two younger ones are joking around quietly, and the other two he recognizes as the two from the entrance to the high rollers room.

He glances over at the digital display, watching as they make their slow ascent to the highest floors. With each number that passes his concern for Angel's safety grows and he finds it harder to stay still. He listens intently to the silence coming through his ear piece.

"_It's ok big guy," _Lucy says reassuringly having picked up on his stress, _"I got a view of the elevators and she's fine."_

In the other elevator Angel also stares at the digital display and swears she's on the world's slowest elevator. It slowly pushes by the 9th floor, then 10th, and then she feels his hands on her again. They're on her waist and they're moving her to face him. Her hand tightens around her small purse in an attempt to control her anger which slowly begins to rise. 'Play it cool.' The words float through her mind.

He moves in and she immediately turns her face to avoid their lips touching but much to her disgust he doesn't seem fazed and instead his lips find her neck. She feels as if her skin is crawling and her whole body tenses at the feeling of his touch. He's taking more liberties now as his hands move around her, one hand sliding down to her ass and the other slowly slides its way upward.

She moves his hands away from her gently but really wants to cut off the offending appendages. He pulls back from her and clearly looks perturbed, and then he grins and in one quick movement he has her pinned against the wall with one of his knees pushed between her legs effectively spreading them apart.

"Ok, plan A has officially been cancelled."

"_Ah shit." _She can hear Lucy and Michael sigh.

Luke immediately tenses when he hears Angel's voice over the com, then he can hear some noise and Lucy and Michael rushing to speak at the same time. He has no idea what's going on but clearly Angel is in trouble. Then he hears some noise coming from the elevator itself and the guards hear it too. Luke glances at the head guard and he knows that the man can tell something's wrong. The man moves to shut down the elevator but Luke hits his arm out of the way. The elevator erupts into chaos in a matter of seconds and he finds himself moving as quickly as possible, dodging as many blows as he can all while delivering some hard punches of his own. Guns are drawn but in the cramped quarters it becomes difficult to move and he manages to knock the guns out of the situation.

He tries reaching for his but realizes in the back of his mind that gun shots will draw unwanted attention and they need to try to escape unseen with their target. So brute strength it is and he continues fighting till he's the only one left standing with five limp bodies all around him and some blood spattered on the walls. They finally reach the penthouse floor and the elevator rings and the doors slide open. He takes a quick look at his reflection in the golden walls of the elevator and straightens his tie, suddenly very happy with his choice to wear all black since it did so well in hiding the blood stains.

He steps over the bodies and out into the hallway, "Lucy talk to me, what's going on with Angel?"

Before Lucy even responds the other set of elevator doors open up to reveal an unconscious Capouro. The front of his shirt soaked with blood which was still leaking from his nose, he's slumped over in the corner of the elevator and Angel is busy running her hand through her hair trying to regain some semblance of normalcy to her appearance.

Luke immediately moves beside her to make sure she's uninjured. "What happened?"

"He got a little too handsy for my liking." Angel says readjusting her dress.

"_So plan B then people?"_ Michael asks.

"_You have to move quickly before someone calls these elevators back down and they find a bunch of guys lying in a pool of blood." _Meg says sounding slightly nervous.

Luke glances around the hallway spotting 2 cameras aiming in their direction, "Lucy can you hijack their feed and cut it please, we don't need them seeing us dragging these guys out."

"_On it."_

A few seconds pass as Luke and Angel wait anxiously for her signal. She catches him still staring at her, "I swear I'm fine." She says with a slight smile trying to brighten his serious mood.

"When he wakes up I'm going to kick his ass." Luke would like to do it immediately but it'll be no fun since he's already unconscious.

"I already broke his nose and hit him right in the groin."

"So I'll break his jaw, and his hands, definitely his hands." Luke adds. Angel glances at him curiously, "He touched you." He clarifies and she chuckles softly.

"That's so sweet." She says kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"_You two are so weird." _Lucy sighs before giving them the 'all clear' to start moving the bodies.

Angel searches Capouro for his keycard and they're happy to find that his Suite is just a few feet away from the elevators. She swipes it and opens the door, turning on the lights as she clears the room and then waves Luke in.

He throws one of the bodies over his shoulder, grabs the smallest guard by the collar of his jacket, and then drags Capouro by his ankle, laughing slightly when he turns the corner and hears Capouro's head hit the wall. "Oops."

Angel just shakes her head while he drops the bodies on the floor and retrieves the other three. "So how the hell are we getting him out of here?" She mumbles to herself glancing around the suite for something of use.

Luke can't just carry him out since it'd definitely draw attention, and she can't just wake him up and lead him out a gunpoint either. "Can't I just drop him out the window?" Luke jokes as he shuts the door behind him.

"_Superiors said very clearly ALIVE for questioning, not a pile of flesh and broken bones. Can't get answers from a corpse big guy." _Lucy cuts in.

"_While you guys figure this out me and Gabriel are going to start packing the gear and we'll have the plane ready. Radio ahead when you're on your way." _

"Okay Michael, have the engines running when we come cause we're going to have to leave asap."

"_Yes ma'am." _

Luke watches Angel's face light up for a moment and knows she's thought of an idea. He smiles as she watches Angel make her way over to a large Burberry suitcase in the corner and toss its contents, then drag it towards Capouro's body. He quickly lifts Capouro and drops him into the case and they spend the next few minutes awkwardly folding his limp body until they finally manage to close the case.

"He's definitely gonna feel that when he wakes up." Angel laughs.

"_What did you do?"_ Meg sounds worried.

"We stuffed him in a suitcase." Luke replies as he lifts the heavy bag. It looks as if though the zipper might burst at any moment but Angel assures him it's a high quality bag and will hold its own.

"Do you think that looks too weird?" She asks quickly before making her way to the door.

"A man carrying his woman's over stuffed suitcase?" He asks with a chuckle, "That's perfectly normal."

She punches his arm before opening the door and heading back to the elevator. "Lucy could you lock these two elevators just to make sure no one else uses them for a while?"

"_I'm trying because it'll really suck if someone catches on before you two can make it out of there." _

Angel and Luke make their way down the hall to the other set of elevators and quickly step in. The ride down seems so much faster and they stand somewhat relaxed by the silence in the small space. "All in all, it wasn't so bad."

Luke thinks on it for a moment. He realizes it's not so bad compared to their other joint operations they've gone on. "I think he job in Egypt was simpler."

Angel nods her head, "Yeah, but this was definitely no Istanbul." They both shake their heads remembering that clusterfuck.

The doors slide open and they're back on the ground floor. He follows close behind her as they walk casually through the casino lobby and past the various security guards, finally making it to the main entrance. They wait patiently outside in the warm air until the valet brings around their rental car, the young valet hands Luke the keys and then reaches for the suitcase.

"It's ok, I've got it." Luke assures him as he tosses it into the backseat. As he and Angel drive away she calls Michael to check that everything's going smoothly. Thankfully they've run into no major problems and have the plane filled up and ready to go.

Twenty minutes later they make it to the small private airstrip and can see that everyone is already on board. Michael and Gabriel come outside to help with the rest of the gear then torch the rental car before heading back inside and up front to the cockpit.

Once inside the plane Luke opens the suitcase and lets Capouro drop to the cold hard ground. He doesn't stir but is clearly still breathing so no one worries. Meg secures his arms and legs with zipties and then covers his head with a dark but breathable material. She then drags him to the rear corner of the plane and plops herself down into one of the reclineable chairs.

"Wake me when we get home." She tells them leaning back and covering herself with a blanket.

Lucy tosses a small pillow at her face, "We're not going straight home."

The look on Meg's face is one of utter disappointment, "Why?" She whines loudly.

"We gotta drop his ass off in London and meet up with David."

Meg looks over to Angel as if she could change the plan. Angel nods her head, "Sorry."

"Ugh." Meg curls up in her chair and falls asleep in seconds.

Lucy just shakes her head and grabs a pillow of her own before making her way to another seat, after a few minutes of cursing and turning Lucy finally manages to find a comfortable position and Angel can soon hear the light sound of her snoring.

"I'm gonna record that sound and play it back to her in the morning." Angel says grabbing a blanket as she and Luke make their way to an empty seat. He sits down first and then she curls up on his lap, kicking off her heels and sighing in relief. She pulls the blanket over herself and Luke and lays her head on his shoulder.

"Comfy?" he smiles.

She just sighs contently. Then wriggles slightly, "Actually it'd be so much better if I could just take this damned dress off."

"I'd be more than happy to help you with that but you and I both know where that'll lead." He tells her as he brushes his lips over her ear. He places a light kiss on her neck, then her cheek as she turns to face him.

"Well we'll land in a few hours and then we can get to a hotel and you can help me out of this wretched dress."

"It'll be my pleasure." He whispers as they kiss briefly knowing that if they continue it'll only make it harder.

"Till then I need to rest a bit."

He nods his head and leans back, his arms wrapping around her holding her close. "Love you."

"I love you too." Angel yawns before kissing his cheek.

He feels his muscles relaxing and then a thought comes to mind, he glances at his watch noticing that it's now just past midnight. He thinks for a moment, and then the sudden realization of today's date hits him.

"What is it?" Angel asks looking up at him. He'd seemed so tired just a moment ago and now seems wide awake.

He smiles at her and kisses her softly yet full of passion. When he pulls away she finds herself smiling but slightly breathless and she hates that they're on the plane and not back at home where she can drag him to bed and ravage him for days.

"Happy anniversary."

She sits up suddenly and can't stop smiling as she hugs him tightly, "Oh my god you're right." She kisses him on the cheek, then his lips before pulling away still smiling. "Happy one year anniversary. We'll celebrate properly once we're done with everything."

"Sounds like a plan." He says as she cuddles back up against him.

"Wait, do we count it as one year or two?"

He looks over at her questioningly, "What do you mean?"

"Well we've been 'together' for a little over two years but not officially together that long." She says trying to hash it all out in her mind.

"By officially together do you mean when we said I love you?"

"I guess that would be the benchmark by which normal couples calculate these sort of things right?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "I have no idea, but we're not exactly a normal couple."

"Not by a long shot."

"So how do you want to count it?"

"Today's date works just fine, I don't mind if we say one year or two." She says leaning back against him.

"How about we go with two?" he asks and finds her looking up at him for an explanation. "I was in love with you well before I told you so technically it's been more than a year for me."

"Same here." She nods her head, "Okay, two year anniversary it is then." She says happily.

"You realize what this means don't you?" Luke says as they slowly start to drift off.

"What?"

"That we're gonna need the next few weeks off."

"Why?" She's curious.

"Because we never got to celebrate our one year so we need to make up for it and it's going to take some time to do it properly." He says quietly by her ear.

She grins mischievously, "Sounds like a wonderful way to spend our time off."

* * *

So any errors or typos are deeply regretted, I tried to proofread as quickly as possible. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading, and a special thanks to charnelisserivera099 for your lovely words of encouragement.


	2. Chapter 2

I hope everyone has had a happy holiday season. I hope the start of this chapter isn't confusing or anything. If you don't remember David is Angel's boss pretty much. Anyway i'm trying to get the story moving into the action I have planned for it. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and thanks to those that have read/reviewed/fav'd.

* * *

"Alexander Capouro." David smiles as he holds the man's file in his hands and sees his still limp body lying inside the cold dark cell. The center of his face is quite swollen, no doubt from a broken nose and though he hasn't been debriefed on how exactly they managed to pull off their job he somehow suspects that Angel is directly behind the break.

"We'll tend to his wounds and when he wakes up we'll notify you so we can begin questioning." The young Investigator tells David.

David glances down at the man, he looks no older than 25 and is desperately trying to be taken seriously so David decides to try his best not to patronize him in the next few days while he's a guest in his domain. "Have a doctor take a look at him, set his nose and dress whatever wounds he may have." David agrees he should be checked thoroughly, they wouldn't do well to let the man die. "Then have him be given a shot of epinephrine because I'm on a timeline and I'm not waiting for sleeping beauty to wake up." David hands the young man the thick folder and walks out the cold dank basement of the Interpol Headquarters in Manchester. He walks across the street, pulling his jacket tightly around him and cringing as he feels the fat rain drops landing on his head.

He hates when he has to travel to Great Britain, nothing but grey skies and rain anytime he's in town but it's where his job has taken him to so he'll be as quick as possible. Once he's in the black town car he lowers the partition and tells the driver to take him back to his hotel. While he's driven through the dark streets he pulls out his phone and calls Angel. The phone rings a few times before going to her voice mail.

He then decides to try Lucy's phone. "Hey David." She answers happily.

"Hello Lucy, are you alright?" He can hear the noise in the background, Michael and Gabriel laughing loudly and Meg squealing happily.

"We're all fine, did you see the package?"

David chuckles briefly, "Yes I saw how well wrapped you delivered him."

"What can I say, there was turbulence on the plane ride in."

"I'm sure that was all turbulence." He shakes his head, "Where is Angel?"

"Our fearless leader has been MIA since we dropped the target off at Interpol." Lucy replies.

David nods his head knowingly, with Luke in tow for this mission of course the two love birds went away the first chance they had. 'Young love', he thinks to himself.

"Did you need to talk to her? Cause I could try to find…"

"No, that's quite alright. You'll all have a few hours to rest before debriefing so just let her know if she contacts you." David doesn't want to disturb Angel and Luke, as long as they're present when he needs them to be their down time is their own to do with as they please.

"Yes sir." Lucy says playfully before hanging up.

* * *

"Luke." Angel groans out as his lips travel down her neck and his hands roam down her back pulling her against him. She knows she should push him away since they're in the elevator at their hotel and anyone could walk in but she can't bring herself to pull away. They breathe a collective sigh of relief when the bell chimes and the doors slide open revealing their floor.

They leave the elevator quickly, holding hands as they race down the hallway looking for their room number. "Found it." He says quickly sliding the keycard and throwing open the door. He lifts her into his arms and resumes their kiss as he carries her into the room. They're so lost in their kiss that they forget the door is wide open, until they hear a slight scream.

"Oh my."

Startled they both pull apart and look over at the doorway to find an old lady and her small dog standing in the hall. The lady shakes her head disapprovingly at them before ushering her dog away, muttering quietly to herself. "Indecent." They hear her say.

"I think you should shut the door before we continue." Angel smiles as she pulls away from Luke.

He nods his head tossing the keycard and his jacket on the nearby table then shutting the door. He then takes a moment to admire the sight before him. She's still wearing the little red dress from the mission, mainly because he whined the whole plane ride here when she tried to change out of it. From the moment he saw her wearing it he knew there was only one way she was getting out of it, and that was going to be with his help.

The skin tight dress is hugging her every curve, her hips seem to be calling out to his hands, her breasts practically begging for the attention of his mouth. Her legs look incredible in the black stilettos but he can't help but feel that they'd look even better wrapped around his waist.

She watches him close as he continues to stare and she smiles at him. "Luke." She says catching his attention, "Come help me out of this dress." She beckons him closer with her finger, smiling seductively as she turns away and struts to the bedroom.

Luke watches intently as her hips sway with every step, as she gets to the doorway she pauses briefly and glances at him over her shoulder and grins before her arms reach behind her to the zipper of her clasp of her dress.

That seems to snap him from his reverie and in a few long strides he's behind her, lips on her shoulder and his hands on her hips. She leans back against him, enjoying the kisses he leaves on her neck and shoulder. She feels his hands as they slide up to cup her breasts through the material of the dress. She wants the wretched thing off so she can feel him.

She figures a little motivation will help him remove it quicker and she reaches behind her to up his growing bulge through his slacks. She can hear his sharp intake of breath, and his hands go still for a moment. She massages him gently, feeling him grow ever harder against her palm and she notices the changes in his breathing. His hands resume their movements, one caressing her breast while the other makes its way downward to the edge of her dress.

He lets it linger on the smooth skin of her thigh, trying to concentrate beyond the sensations her hand was causing. He decides to tease her as well and he slides his hand between her thighs.

She bites her lip to stifle a groan as she feels his fingers touching her gently, purposefully avoiding the spot she needs the most. She decides to play hardball and slides her hand past the waist of his pants and boxers, taking hold of his hardness. Her thumb touches the tip, drawing light circles before applying slight pressure.

He groans before kissing her lightly on her neck. "You win." He concedes as his hands leave her and move to the clasp of her dress. He slowly undoes the snap and lowers the zipper, admiring the way the fabric slowly falls from her body leaving him bare to his gaze. It pools around her feet, still clad in heels and now she stands before him in only the tiniest pair of black laze panties he's ever seen in his life.

She turns to face him and their lips meet in a heated kiss, his arms wrapping tightly around her crushing her to him. She loves the strength of his arms around her, and sighs as he lifts her easily and carries her to the bed.

They smile as they stumble onto the bed, his lips leaving hers to roam her body drawing gasps and soft moans from her lips. His hands aren't idle and soon she finds herself teetering on the brink, writhing against him seeking release. He happily complies and watches as her body responds eagerly, his name groaned out in satisfaction.

He kisses his way up her body before smiling smugly at her. She smiles back, "Why are you still wearing clothes?" She asks between breaths. He stands up and quickly removes his shirt and shoes, then his pants and boxers in one swift move. She smiles in approval, "That's more like it." She says reaching for him, pulling him down on top of her.

She groans out his name as he slides into her, her arms wrapping around his broad shoulders as she holds him close. They set a fast pace, and he quickly has her nearing the edge again. He leans back on his legs, pulling her with him and she feels him slide in even deeper. "Luke."

He'll never tire of hearing her groan out his name, he can tell by the tremor in her voice and her tightening almost painfully around him that she's very close. He quickens his thrusts, and within moments they both come crashing over the edge together. He holds her tightly against him as their hearts race, then slowly lowers her to the bed, his body still pressed against hers. He rolls to his side bringing her with him and she lifts one leg over his hip as they lay together in the dark room.

She can feel herself drifting slowly off to sleep, her body totally relaxed and mind at ease with his body so close. He's not far behind, eyes slowly closing as his breathing evens out. They're both torn from their sleepy states by 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

"Oh god." Angel mumbles before throwing her head back into the pillow, pulling it around her ears. The phone keeps ringing before it sends Lucy to voicemail.

"You think it's important?" Luke glances over at her.

Angel sighs, "It's probably just her trying to bother us." She hopes it's true because she really just wants to get some sleep now.

The phone begins to ring again, this time Luke's accompanies it. Luke reaches for his discarded pants and pulls out his phone. "It's Michael." He tells her with a sigh.

As he answers his phone she gets out of the bed and searches for hers, after a few seconds of digging through the rest of their clothing she finds it and answers just in time.

"But I don't wanna go!" She whines childishly when Lucy tells her it's time to meet up at Interpol.

Luke gets the same message from Michael and gruffly responds "We'll be there in thirty minutes."

Angel hears him and glares. "Just tell David we'll meet you guys there." She tells Lucy before hanging up.

Luke gets up and walks over to her, "Just look on the bright side, after the debriefing we get to go home."

"Home sounds great." She smiles.

* * *

To the reader that pm'd me requesting smut, there ya go. Hope it wasn't too bad. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

I hope everyone had a great Holiday and happy New year! I hope this chapter isn't too bad, i'm trying to explain the in between stuff before going into the FF6 movie.

* * *

She walks angrily down the corridor past all the poker tables and slot machines, her blonde long hair flowing behind her. The guests are all drunk and the thick smell of smoke lingers heavily in the air around her making her gag. A few of the drunk patrons look at her lustfully, one winks at her and she sneers in his direction. She finally makes it to the front doors and is happy to see they've pulled their car around. She nods at Klaus to drive and sits quickly slamming the car door shut as she pulls out her cell.

Klaus glances in her direction as he starts the car, "He's going to be very angry."

She looks at the large man, all brawn and no brain but he serves his purpose. Right now she doesn't want to hear information she already knows. She ignores his comment and waits patiently as the phone continues to ring.

"Vegh?" His low, gravelly voice answers finally.

"Shaw," she greets hesitantly. It's not that she's frightened of him, they've worked together for many years and she knows he won't be mad at her specifically. Yet hearing him get mad at anyone or anything was never a fun experience. "Capouro never showed."

The phone is silent as she and Klaus glance at each other while the seconds tick by. She can't see Shaw's face but knows that his jaw is probably clenched tightly in aggravation, his hand is probably gripping the phone as tightly as she is now.

"He didn't call?" Shaw's voice is quiet and steady. It unnerves her.

"No, no he didn't call or leave a message. We waited well past the rendezvous time and we checked the entire casino floor for him." She and Klaus had made a thorough search of the entire casino and even the high rollers room but they had no success.

"I want the camera footage from the hotel for the past 48 hours." Shaw tells her quickly.

She almost replies 'What the hell for?' but she bites her tongue and simply agrees to his request.

"Send it to me as soon as you've acquired it and then get back to base immediately." He orders before disconnecting the call.

"Well?" Klaus looks at her.

"We need to go back." She says through clenched teeth.

* * *

Shaw tosses his phone on the table in front of him, slamming his fist down on the table. He takes a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. It's only a minor setback but it's enough to add a bit of a delay to his schedule for his most important job. Capouro would've been able to provide the necessary weapons and equipment needed, and sure he could find someone else but on such short notice it'd be a nuisance and more expensive than originally anticipated.

There is one thing he needed Capouro for that will definitely set the mission back, the Intel he could've provided on the parts they need to acquire. He had acquired the schematics for the pieces and locations, and he had promised Shaw that he even had access to the security blueprints for the locations holding the pieces.

It was a one stop shopping center for this mission, but with Capouro MIA he'd have to change up the plans. A little more time would be needed in his planning, and a bit more caution. He'd have to find out what happened with Capouro before moving forward though, and if it turns out the man simply decided to back out of their deal well then he'd be dealt with in the only way Owen Shaw dealt with "bad parts".

"Everything okay?" Her sleepy voice draws him from his angered thoughts. He turns to face her, she stands framed by the bedroom doorway clad in nothing but his shirt. Her hair ruffled and hanging wildly around her, lips still red and pouty from their kisses earlier that night.

"I'm sorry I woke you." He says realizing he must've been too loud.

Riley walks over to him smiling before sitting on his lap, "its okay, you sounded upset."

He kisses her briefly before smiling back at her, "Everything's fine. Just a small change of plans." He brushes her hair from her face, "When do you go back?"

"In two days." She sighs.

They rarely get to see each other, not surprising given their chosen career paths. If all works out well they'll see each other soon enough and won't have to part. He kisses her again, their passion consuming them as he stands up lifting her with him and makes his way back to their room. "Let's make the most of it then." He says with a grin.

* * *

A few hours later she's sound asleep and he sits at his laptop going through several hours' worth of footage Vegh had sent him. He saw Capouro check in with his guards, he hit the table games his first day at the resort, and again on the second day before he disappeared. It takes him another two hours to find what he'd been looking for.

"Hello again." He whispers to himself as he stares at the screen. He can't help but smile as he watches Angel walking across the casino floor with Capouro close beside her. This certainly complicates matters, Angel being involved can only lead to difficulties as she so adequately proved with Malachai.

Her involvement changes everything, he keeps watching the video and watches them go into the private elevators before the feed goes black. He checks to see if there's any footage after their entrance to the elevator but there was nothing. Vegh had assured him that was the entire footage he had requested and he suspects that Angel's team has something to do with the missing pieces.

He briefly notices the large man following Angel around, no doubt a fellow agent. He's not alarmed by him, but knowing that Angel now has Capouro and whatever information he may have he's worried the man might break under pressure and discuss everything he had planned as well as his involvement. He's sure Angel doesn't know he's involved yet because if she did she would've caught up to him by now.

He needs to remove her and her girls from the equation, but he can't kill her. They have a history, and though it's complicated he could never bring himself to kill her. He can't have her involved in this job because it'll lead to them facing off against each other and that wouldn't end well.

It's going to take some extra concentration and planning on his part, but he's got a pretty damned good crew set up and could always bring in some extra help if needed. Angel and her girls would be the only real challenge and if he can sideline them then there won't be a problem. Once their involvement is finished the job should be simple enough with proper planning and tools, and whoever the authorities would get to replace Angel couldn't possibly pose a threat to his elite crew. He smiles and takes a sip of his drink as the plan begins to form in his mind.

* * *

So for those of us that don't remember the names of the characters (I had to IMDB it) Vegh is the blonde lady that races around in FF6 with Shaw and gets killed at the end by Brian and Mia, Klaus is the muscular guy that Hobbs fights with at the end on the plane. Thanks for reading, favs, follows, and reviews. It's always awesome to read them.


	4. Chapter 4

I own nothing except my oc's and crazy ideas. Thanks for reading.

* * *

She can feel the warmth of the morning sun on her face, she can see the brightness through her eyelids and squints in frustration as she pulls the comforter over her face, curling herself into a ball. She can hear Luke chuckle softly.

"Mornin'." He says wrapping his arm around her and pulling her closer.

She wriggles herself deeper into the comforter, but it's still not dark enough. "We need darker curtains." She mumbles.

"We'll add it to the shopping list." He says pulling the comforter off of her, grinning as she glares at him in frustration and for a moment he thinks she might hit him.

A year of living together has taught him that she's not really a morning person, and her homes in New York and Philly reflected that perfectly with the dark drapes that covered her bedroom windows plunging the rooms into darkness at all hours of the day. They hadn't had the chance to fully decorate their new house in Washington yet and it seems that their shopping list is always growing.

She stretches languidly and lays her head on his shoulder, enjoying the morning silence. Then a door in the house slams and she lets out a frustrated sigh. "Lucy." She mumbles against him. "Remind me to change the lock, and this time don't give her a key." She says playfully as she gets out of bed and washes up.

She can already hear the sounds of pots and pans banging in the kitchen and the sound of Lucy muttering curse words by the time she heads downstairs. She finds Meg sitting patiently at the kitchen island while Lucy scrambles eggs at the stove. The counter top is littered in crumbs from toast and most of the contents of the fridge are scattered throughout the rest of the counters.

"I know you two have your own homes, so why do you come here for breakfast?" Angel asks as she steps over a broken egg and reaches for the paper towels.

"Because you keep your fridge full." Lucy smiles.

"Yeah, we forgot to go shopping before the job so what little we had left in our fridge expired." Meg tells her; taking a bite of toast.

"My milk was practically yogurt." Lucy adds.

"Ooohhh," Meg squeals, "Do you have yogurt?"

Angel nods and points to the bottom drawer of the fridge as she takes a seat. "Scramble me some eggs while you're at it Lucy."

"What do I look like? Your chef?" Lucy says indignantly.

"You're in our kitchen," Angel says looking over at her, "using my groceries to cook your breakfast."

"Scrambled eggs comin' right up." Lucy says quickly.

"Where's the big guy?" Meg mutters with her mouth full of food.

Angel continues to wipe up the counters, "Washing up." Angel starts putting some of the food they've taken out back in the fridge, an attempt to get the kitchen to look somewhat normal again. Anytime Lucy and Meg stop by for breakfast or any meal they manage to make their kitchen look like a warzone instead of the large and freshly modeled kitchen it was. Their constant visiting had lead her and Luke to have it completely redone, and almost every surface was covered in marble. They felt that maybe it would withstand Lucy and Meg's use of their expensive knives, particularly Lucy's wild use of the large butcher knife. So far nothing's been broken but it's only been a few months since they've had it done.

The rest of the house was coming together nicely, they'd finally gotten furniture in the living and dining rooms, her and Luke's bedroom was almost done. They were choosing carpet and paint colors for the guest rooms but she had no intention of buying beds for them anytime soon since she knows that'll only lead to Meg and Lucy never leaving her and Luke in peace. Then there were the bathrooms, out of the four and a half the house came with she'd only really finished with her and Luke's private bathroom. The rest had some basic remodeling done, new showers, tubs, and toilets but not much else. She'd never known living with someone and sharing a house with someone other than Lucy or Meg would be so crazy, and yet so fun.

"So did you two really just come here to eat my food again?" Angel smiles as she watches Meg eat nearly everything in sight.

Meg shakes her head and looks at Lucy, then Angel before swallowing and hesitating a moment. "David wants to see us at the office." She says quietly.

"What for?" Angel wonders aloud, "We still have some leave time, and I'm not…"

"He said it was urgent." Lucy cuts in, her face and tone serious.

"Is he ok?" Angel asks quickly, David was never one to cut into their leave time unless there was a serious emergency.

"He's fine, but he said it's very important and he needed to speak with us." Meg explains.

Angel sits quietly for a moment, her mind running over a multitude of thoughts, wondering what could be so important. She'd go of course, and hopefully it's something silly because she was still looking forward to the rest of her time off with Luke.

Lucy seems to read her mind, "We'll be back shortly and then you and Hulk can get back to your wonderful vacation." She says with a lilt in her voice. Meg just smiles, Lucy grins as they watch Angel's cheeks redden slightly.

"Shut up."

"Seriously," Lucy says with a mouthful of scrambled eggs, "I'm surprised there's no little Luke's or Lucy's running around yet."

Angel practically chokes on her orange juice at the mention of kids. The look she shoots to Meg and Lucy clearly express her feelings for a discussion the two always manage to bring up. They love to rile her. Angel takes a breath and wipes the juice from her shirt and shorts. "Little Lucy's?" She suddenly thinks on what Lucy said.

"Well yeah," Lucy says with a serious face, "Obviously your first born daughter will be my namesake."

"Hey, why Lucy? Meg sounds better." Meg declares.

Angel just shakes her head at the two of them, if they were sitting any closer she would've smacked their heads together. She smiles at the thought but the smile is quickly chased away when she hears the sound of Luke coming down the stairs. She glares quickly at the both of them to silence their talk of babies, it's not something her and Luke have ever even mentioned, let alone have a full discussion about and she doesn't want him getting the wrong idea.

"Morning ladies." He says cheerfully with a smile.

"Hey big guy." Meg and Lucy say warmly.

Luke grabs some juice and sits by Angel, stealing a few eggs off her plate while she threatens to stab him with her fork.

"So what are you ladies doing today?"

"Well we were…" Lucy starts.

"We're going shopping." Angel says quickly, shooting a quick glance to Lucy and Meg. They're always quick to catch on to her queues, and immediately go along with her.

"Oh god." Luke grumbles with a frown.

"Relax big guy," Lucy says patting him on his shoulder. "We got it this time, you don't have to come."

Luke sighs in relief, the last time he was dragged along on one of their shopping excursions it had been six straight hours of shopping which involved him sitting by dressing rooms, watching them look at chunks of fabric and colors for curtains and couches, and him holding Angel's purse.

"You big baby." Angel says playfully leaning against him. He puts his arm over her shoulders and kisses her head.

"Yuck, you two are being all sweet, makes me sick." Lucy says getting up to clear her plate.

"We should get going." Meg says after checking her cell.

"See ya later." Angel says kissing Luke briefly as she follows them out. She decides to leave her car and go with Lucy and Meg. She sits shotgun while Lucy revs the engine on her Mustang Shelby and they drive off.

"So why didn't you tell Luke we were headed to the office?" Lucy asks as she tears down the streets, avoiding a few stop signs and running a red light. Angel finds it astonishing that she still has a license.

"Because he knows that David wouldn't interrupt our vacation time unless it was a serious job or issue, and if that is in fact the case he's going to start fussing about me going on the job, whatever it may be." Angel explains.

"Oh, that makes sense." Meg says leaning forward between the seats.

"He still being overprotective?" Lucy asks as she takes a sharp turn, causing Angel and Meg to brace themselves.

Angel's hands are gripping the sides of her chair and she finds herself swearing to never to let Lucy drive her anywhere ever again. "Yeah, he's always like that."

"I think it's sweet that he cares so much. You do have to understand where he's coming from, you're his girlfriend and you have a dangerous job." Meg clarifies.

"So does he, he does the same shit." Lucy argues.

"Hey, seriously I don't mind so much that he's protective," Angel chimes in, "I do find it sweet and endearing, but sometimes unnecessary. So what he doesn't know, won't hurt him. Right?" She looks at Lucy and Meg expectantly.

Lucy nods her head, Meg reluctantly agrees and sits back, quickly buckling her seatbelt when they narrowly avoid hitting a garbage truck.

Twenty harrowing minutes later they're at David's office, Lucy spinning childishly in her seat as Meg munches on a bag of chips she had to buy from the vending machine down the hall, and Angel sits listening to David intently as he explains the current situation.

There's mention of the "nightshade" device that they'd stumbled on a year ago and it puts her slightly on edge at the thought of that job with Malachai. They never had gotten to who had been behind it all. Though it's unsettling she can't help but want to discover who's behind it all and though Meg quietly suggests they find someone else for the job, Angel accepts David's request for assistance.

"We're not going after anybody Meg." Angel tells her as they walk down the halls and towards the elevators. "We're just going to find out some information, do a little recon. That's it." Angel smiles to put her at ease but Meg doesn't seem to be buying it.

"Piece of cake." Lucy tells her patting Meg on her back.

Meg nods her head hesitantly, "Mmm…cake." She smiles.

* * *

It takes them a week to dig deeper into the Intel provided by David, she would've been done sooner but she's been trying to act like she's still on leave while with Luke and not running a job. It's difficult but she's pulled it off. The more they find out, the more she realizes they're going to have to do some more recon. Recon which is going to involve some travelling.

Meg's not thrilled about the idea when she first mentions it while they're over for dinner one night. She sends Luke out for dessert and brings it to their attention while she has the chance. Lucy's quick to jump on board, she gets antsy with too much downtime. Meg quickly comes around to the idea and by the time Luke gets back with the dessert they've got their preliminary planning done. They let David know where they'll be headed and Lucy's quick to spin a story for Luke about how she's ready to go on a shopping spree and girl's week out. At the mention of shopping he's more than happy to be left out of the plans, though clearly not thrilled about being apart from Angel.

They finish dinner, she bids Lucy and Meg a good night and spends the night under Luke's body lost in pleasure. The following morning when she kisses him goodbye she feels guilty because she's lying to him. It's only a simple lie she tries to tell herself, tries to justify it.

"It's fine." Lucy tells her as they sit in their pilot's seats and start up the engines. "He won't know because we'll be back in a few days and we'll be fine."

Meg nods her head but seems just as unsure as Angel feels. "We got this." She says trying to be confident, she smiles slightly. "Right?"

Angel nods her head, "Yeah, just simple recon. We find what we're looking for and come back. No engagements, no possible complications."

"Who knows, we may actually get to do some shopping after all." Lucy smirks.

* * *

So it's kind of a filler chapter, sorry if it's not exciting or anything but the next one will be. Thanks for reading, reviewing, faving, and following.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you so much for continuing to read my story. And a very huge thanks to everyone fav/following the story and to the lovely reviewers who have made these past few days amazing. Every time i see a new review i grin from ear to ear, so thank you. To the guest who requested more hotness between Luke and Angel, believe me i'm going to work as much of that as possible because those chapters are pretty fun to write but this one won't be one of them (sorry). And to AnnieAC, thank you for that wonderful review!

* * *

_The sound of a few thousand pounds of steel crashing against solid concrete is a horrible sound. As the metal bends and breaks it screeches loudly, that coupled with the sound of the concrete breaking and shifting can be terrifying. Add to that the sound of the passenger's screams and you have a truly frightening experience. It's a horrible nightmare to have, she thinks to herself._

_It's so realistic, she could almost feel the touch of the freezing water pouring in through the car doors. It slowly fills the car, and she's almost paralyzed with fear as she feels it reach her chest and continue to rise. Her arms are heavy, too heavy to move. Her legs pinned down by twisted metal. Her head is pounding, eyesight blurry, she can hear her name being called. She can hear their panic, she can feel hands on her shoulders before the world goes completely dark. _

She hears their voices before she sees them, her vision too blurry to make out more than bright lights. "I think she's waking up." Is it Meg or Lucy's voice, she's not sure. God her head hurts. Everything hurts, but what draws her attention above all else is the feeling of something down her throat. She gags uncomfortably and she suddenly struggles to breathe. Her hands fly to her throat, it hurts but she finds the tube protruding from her mouth and begins to pull.

"No, Angel stop." It's Lucy grabbing for her hands now, trying to hold them to her sides.

She puts up quite the fight despite being injured, she can hear Meg at her side pleading with her to calm down and stop moving. Lucy's hands are still on hers, fighting weakly to keep her from pulling the tube out but she's no match for Angel's persistence and with a wretch she has the tube pulled out of her throat and she's left gasping for air as the nurses and doctors rush in. They're yelling at her in Russian, and she's a little rusty but does understand a few of their curse words. She falls back against the pillows, chest heaving as she gulps in air. Two of the nurses scramble to the monitor checking her vitals while the two doctors hover over her, one flashing the light in her eyes and the other pulling out a syringe with clear fluid prepping it for injection into her IV.

"No." she says immediately pushing the doctor's hands away from her. Her head still feels fuzzy and she refuses to be in a foreign country's hospital while drugged up. The doctors are shouting at her to cooperate, the nurses try holding her arms till she sits up and glares at them all. Every nerve in her body is practically searing with pain but she pushes through it and in a steady voice tells them to leave the room. The doctors nod to the nurses and they quietly leave the room. The older doctor then nods to his younger colleague and he hesitantly leaves the room. The old man puts the syringe back in his pocket and smiles gently.

"You are very injured." He says with a heavy accent. "Very bad accident."

She looks over at Lucy and Meg, it was no accident. They were run off the roads by two large SUVs, she remembers the chase and the sound of their breaks screeching but not much else after that. Someone had known who they were and what they were here for, otherwise why take the time and effort to try and get rid of 3 simple 'tourists'.

"You need rest, and medicine." The doctor says still smiling gently.

Angel knows he means well but she needs to get Stateside as quickly as possible and inform David of this latest development. "Rest." Angel nods her head, then reaches for the IV in her arm, "No more medicine." She shakes her head for emphasis.

The doctor nods slowly before holding up her chart and scribbling some notes. "Food." He tells her with a nod of his head as he heads out the room closing the door behind him.

Angel takes a moment to look at Meg who sits in a small chair beside her bed, her leg in a cast and the entire right side of her face bruised and lined with small cuts. Lucy looks slightly better though some bruising is clearly evident on the left side of her face, neck, and shoulder. Her left arm is wrapped in bandages from palm to elbow and she looks exhausted.

"You okay?" Angel barely manages to croak out. Her throat feels as though someone took sandpaper to it and she immediately regrets speaking.

Meg and Lucy nod their heads, "Just take it easy and lay back." Meg stands and fluffs up the pillow behind her and tries to get her to lie down.

Lucy quickly comes to her other side and does the same. "Trust me, you had it worse than us." She tells her.

Angel can't tell which part of her body to focus on, the pain was excruciating all over. She decides to calm herself and take stock for a few seconds. She leans back against the pillows and lifts her arms, they shake slightly but as she looks them over they're not so bad. Just a few bruises, some scratches from broken glass but nothing serious. Her shoulder is sore but she knows it's most likely from the impact and the seatbelt. She looks down at her body and she feels her head throb painfully. She's wearing an ugly hospital gown, but other than that she sees no serious wounds. Her right leg is wrapped in gauze from knee to the bottom of her calf. Her ankle wrapped entirely is throbbing painfully.

"Doc said it's broken." Lucy tells her.

"Your ribs are bruised and you were having trouble breathing when they brought us in which is why they did the tube thing." Meg fills her in to the rest of what's happened. They spend the next few moments telling her about their combined injuries and what little they remember from the 'accident'. The local doctors and nurses have no idea why they're in town. To them they're just silly 'American tourists' who have lost control of a car and went into a local river.

"How long?" she mumbles quietly as she pushes around the disgusting hospital food the doctor had the nurse bring her.

"They brought us in about 24 hours ago, I called David 6 hours ago and told him what happened."

Angel immediately sits up, ignoring the pain in her muscles. "Luke?" She hopes they haven't told him, she knows it's inevitable because she can't hide injuries like this from him.

"We were worried." Meg's voice is shaky and quiet. Angel looks at her and can see the tears in her eyes, she's upset that they told him before her but she understands. She gives Meg's hand a slight squeeze and smiles gently at her. Meg smiles back, glad to see she's not angry with her.

"We didn't tell him the extent of everything but he sounded pretty worried and he's flying in with David." Lucy looks nervously at Meg and Angel can see they're still not telling her something.

"What?" Angel says, her voice barely above a whisper.

Meg looks hesitantly at Angel before explaining, "We barely made it out of that wreck, Lucy helped me to the shore before diving back for you but she couldn't…" she stops for a moment as if the memory itself is painful. "We thought that…" she can't continue as her voice chokes up.

"I cut the seatbelt and I was trying to pull you out but your leg was caught and you were unconscious. It was hard and the car was filling up." Lucy's voice is also shaken, her eyes betraying the emotions she's trying to keep hidden.

"Then how the hell did I get out?"

"Two people came down off the road and dived in to grab you, it was dark and I could barely see who they were but they managed to hoist you out and someone up on the bridge called the authorities. As soon as they had you on the shore they hauled ass and we couldn't stop them." Lucy explains.

"Were they the ones who ran us off the road?"

Meg shrugs her shoulders, "I think it might've been. No one else was on that road with us that late at night. Just the two SUVs, we tried to get some info, at least a look at their faces but it was dark and we were…."

"It's okay." Angel assures Meg. She lays back against the pillows again, the aches and pains drain what little energy she has. The food is unbearable and doesn't help but she can't sleep either. Not with all the worry on her now.

They'd only been in Russia for 3 days and had gotten pretty far with the "Nightshade" issue. They had yet to find out who was behind it all but they were getting close. They'd alerted the local Military personnel of the importance for security around one of the pieces they housed in the city. At first they had been reluctant to listen to them, after all relationships between Russia and the US were never really amicable even between fellow agents. But after they'd shown them their Intel and briefed them on their mission with Malachai they were keen on upping their security. The Russian agents didn't give them the details but assured them that they would remain vigilant. Regardless of what side they were on, no one wanted the Nightshade device to be assembled so once the Russian agents had given their word to alert them to anything suspicious they had decided to call it a night and were prepared to head back home.

They never made it back to their plane and instead were bombarded by the 2 SUV's which started ramming them, they had tried to speed away, tried to fight back but they'd had no luck and all she remembers is the sound of the crash before everything went dark. Now she's in the hospital with an IV in her arm and a splitting headache among other pains waiting for the inevitably tense reunion she's going to have when Luke arrives.

"I lied to him." She whispers more for herself than for anyone else to hear but Lucy and Meg hear her and try to cheer her up.

"He'll understand." Lucy tries to be convincing but knows that this will no doubt be a point of contention between the two. It wasn't supposed to go wrong, it was simple recon and they should've been back home in a few days and Luke would've never had a clue.

Angel glances at the clock, they'll probably arrive within a few hours so she had some time to think of what she'd say to Luke and try to make herself look like she hadn't just avoided a brush with death. "I need some clean clothes and some makeup." She tells Meg and Lucy, they nod their heads and get to work.

* * *

"What part of the plan did you not understand!?" Shaw's voice is dangerously low, a clear sign of his anger towards them and she finds herself briefly worried.

"We didn't kill any of them." Vegh answers him with a steady voice. Klaus looks at her worriedly, they have no way of knowing for sure if the three women had survived the crash.

"Running them off the road was not a part of the plan that we had discussed."

She can't see Shaw's face and is happy that he's thousands of miles away because if he was in front of them right now she's not sure they'd be standing. "Every other opportunity eluded us and our contingency plan was also not an option." She, Klaus and Adolfson had truly tried every option at their disposal for a clean and clear mission. They'd only had to injure her enough to make sure she'd no longer be following the Nightshade device or their operations. They had planned it in advance and with Shaw's instructions had been confident it'd be quite simple. Unfortunately Angel Sanclair had proven to be a tough mark to handle.

She was constantly surrounded by her companions, she'd taken every precautionary measure even though she had no clue she had people tailing her. She was just a very cautious agent and had obviously had extensive training which made their job much more difficult. Adolfson had considered simply setting up a post outside the Russian Security buildings while the three women were visiting inside and simply shooting her but Vegh had immediately voice opposition to the idea. Adolfson was an excellent marksman but it only took one slight slip to the left or right for him to accidentaly nick an artery and cause her to bleed out. Shaw had made it perfectly clear to them that if either of the ladies involved suffered fatal injuries their heads would roll, and he made sure they were aware of Angel's significance. She must remain alive and well, only injured enough to get her off their case.

She'd briefly considered having Klaus take her on but the other two never left her side and though she was confident in Klaus' fighting abilities the dossiers compiled on the three ladies showed that alone they'd be formidable opponents but together would most likely be enough to kill the behemoth. So Vegh had gone with what she had thought would be a pretty good back up plan.

"We pulled her out and called the ambulance." Klaus says quietly attempting to appease Shaw.

"Where is she now?" Shaw asks, his voice a little louder.

"One of the local hospitals." Vegh answers quickly. She waves to Adolfson and he nods his head quickly pulling out his phone and searching for the nearest hospital.

"Find her and be sure that she's alive, report back to me when you have."

"I told you she's probably fine.." Vegh says rather annoyed with Shaw's attentions for the mystery woman.

"I want confirmation, for your sake she'd better be fine." He hangs up the phone before any of them can reply.

Vegh glances at Adolfson, "Well?"

"I've got the number to the local hospital, I'll call and see if she was brought in."

Klaus shakes his head, "That won't do, you heard Shaw. He wants confirmation that she's alive."

"You're right," Vegh says tossing the phone on the table, "and that's why you're going to go in person to the hospital and check on her."

Klaus glares at her, "Why me?"

"Cause you're the one who pushed the car into the lake to begin with." Adolfson replies as he hangs up his phone. He jots down the address to the hospital on a piece of paper and hands it to him.

Klaus grimaces but gets in the truck and heads out to the hospital. Adolfson sits down and uncorks a bottle of Vodka, taking a deep gulp before passing it to Vegh. She takes a few sips before setting the bottle on the table. "How fucked are we if she's dead?" Adolfson asks her quietly.

Normally she'd say that she and Adolfson are almost untouchable when it comes to Shaw's rage. They've been with him for years and she'd almost be comfortable enough to say they'd be irreplaceable to the team. But given the importance he seemed to put on this "Angelique" woman she thinks that maybe even partners as loyal as she and Adolfson are in fact replaceable if it turns out that she's dead.

"I think he'll give us a few hours to run out of consideration for years of loyal service." Vegh says as she reaches for the bottle and drains half of it.

* * *

Angel listens to the doctors as they argue with her, they shout about her taking out the IV, not eating any of the atrocious food they bought, and her getting out of the bed to wash up and change. She ignores them as best as they can though the volume of their voices is doing nothing to help her headache. She glances at the small mirror Meg gave her, no amount of makeup was going to hide the stitches at the edge of her forehead. Five small stitches for a deep gash, the cause of her current headache and of a concussion which she'd been unaware of until the doctor had shouted it to her moments ago.

With the assistance of Lucy and Meg she had managed to at least comb through her hair, taking out a few pieces of glass that had remained and trying to clean off some of the blood by her stitches. She'd managed to wash up a bit but taking a shower had proven difficult with her leg wrapped in gauze and her ankle in a cast but she'd done her best. Lucy had managed to run out and buy some jeans and a simple sweater from a small store down the street for her to wear since the clothes she'd had on in the accident were wet and covered in blood.

"Be honest, how bad do I look?" She asks Meg as the doctor's continue to berate her.

"Much better."

The doctor's squabbling silences quickly and she looks up from the small mirror to see David standing at the door. He smiles at her briefly before telling the doctors in flawless Russian to get lost. She's just about to ask for Luke when he walks in behind him. The look on his face makes her heart drop to her stomach.

David shares a quick look with Lucy and Meg and they quietly leave the two alone, closing the door behind them.

"I'm okay." She tells him quickly as she sees his eyes filled with worry as he looks over her injuries. "They're not as bad as they look." She smiles through the pain she's feeling in an attempt to sell the lie.

He walks over to her, slowly inspecting her various injuries. He knows she's lying, David had taken a quick glance at the medical file outside the door and had informed him of the extent of her injuries. He's not sure how to feel at the moment, the whole flight over he'd been a wreck. The worry and fear that she wouldn't make it had torn at him from the moment he'd gotten David's call. Now seeing her was some relief, she's alive and breathing, but how close had he come to losing her? And why hadn't she told him about this job.

He'd practically argued with David about it during the flight, David hadn't really argued, more like listened silently as he shouted angrily. David had known he was just incredibly worried and didn't fault him for it but actually apologized for not having told Luke sooner.

He brushes her hair away from her face, glancing briefly at the stitches at the edge of her forehead before looking into her eyes. Their brown depths stare back into his and the anger he's felt melts away and he pulls her into his lap, gently wrapping his arms around her. They stay like that for a while, not a word spoken between them till the door opens revealing a large orderly.

He simply smiles and nods his head towards her food tray, abandoned and cold he picks it up and nods his head to them before making his way out of the room. Lucy and Meg walk in after him, "Do you think you'd be okay to head back tonight?" they ask her.

Luke tenses slightly, uncomfortable with the idea of her leaving a hospital so soon but she quickly replies and slowly stands with his assistance. The nurse offers to bring a wheel chair but Luke easily lifts her into his arms and carries her out to the car, wrapping his jacket around her to shield her from the cold night air. The ride to the plane is a silent one, and when they arrive at the small airport Lucy and Meg separate to fly their plane back while David goes with Luke and Angel in the smaller private jet.

After takeoff, David talks with Angel briefly about what took place, it takes a while as it still hurts for her to speak but she fills him in on what she can remember before the accident. He hugs her briefly before heading to the cockpit under the pretense of assisting the pilot but they know it's just to give them some privacy.

She knows that a discussion with Luke is inevitable, most likely an argument but she knows Luke won't do it now, not when she's injured. Still she's not sure how to act and feels terribly guilty about lying to him. She tries to sit quietly in her chair beside him but can't stop fidgeting and he notices. He holds her hand, squeezing it gently before smiling at her. She smiles back before leaning forward to kiss him gently. He pulls her carefully onto his lap as she curls against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

He holds her against him for the whole flight as she sleeps peacefully. The entire time he can only think about how close he would've come to losing her. She's bruised and injured and he wasn't there to stop it. He's worried, sad, and angry all at the same time but now's not the time to hash it all out. So he holds her a little tighter and whispers I love you as he settles in for the long flight home.

* * *

"Do you have confirmation?" Shaw asks, his voice still on edge.

"Klaus saw her with his own eyes." Vegh informs him. "She wasn't alone, her team were right beside him and the large man from the video was by her side as well so he couldn't take a photograph but he managed to read her chart. She has no life threatening injuries, she'll be fine."

"Good." Shaw sighs in relief, "Stay there and begin prepping for the next phase of our operation. I've just had word that the Russians have upped the ante and we'll have to change our plans a bit."

"We'll get started." Vegh replies.

"I'll be there by tomorrow afternoon." Shaw says before tossing his phone on the couch. He spares a glance at Riley, noticing the look of aggravation on her face. "Something wrong?" He's growing tired of the jealousy she's been showing the past few days since she's found out about his interest in Angel and her involvement with "Nightshade".

"Nothing, just glad to hear your ex is doing swell." She responds trying, but failing miserably to conceal the bitterness from her voice.

"I've told you a thousand times," Shaw says trying to hide the irritation from his. "She's not my ex."

Riley turns from him, arms folded across her chest as she rolls her eyes. "Sure."

He turns her roughly and crashes his lips to hers in a searing kiss, after a few moments he pulls away leaving her breathless and lips reddened. "She's an old friend and I would never hurt her. You've nothing to be jealous about."

She leans into him, "I've got to head back." She tells him quietly glancing at her bags by the door.

"When this is all done, we'll be together again and you won't have to leave anymore." He tells her, kissing her briefly once more before watching her leave. He packs his things and carefully reworks his plans.

The Intel he's just rec'd from his inside men tells him that the Russians have stepped up their security procedures, no doubt at the behest of Angelique. No matter, he's always loved a challenge.

* * *

So I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sure it's a bit irritating how i kind of fast forward a few days or weeks between chapters but i'm no good with filler chapters and i'm really trying to make it through the 6th movie combining with this story before April which is when the 7th one comes out. (yay!) By the way, Adolfson is the name of the character who poses as a soldier to infiltrate the military base towards the end of the movie, also the one who had the sniper rifle trained on Dom during the discussion he and Shaw had in the middle of the movie. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the lovely reviews, it's great to read them and they definitely inspire me to keep writing (Annie AC, Island Girl95 and the various "guests" who have reviewed, you're awesome). The recent trailer releases for FF7 also help inspire me and remind me that the release date for the movie is 4/3 and leaves me little time to get this story in before then. So here goes...

* * *

The moment the plane touches down in DC, David and Luke insist on taking her to the hospital. She's far too tired and achy to argue against it and succumbs to their wish. She spends the next 12 hours in a private suite while a team of doctors and nurses hover around her. In between the various tests and awaiting the results she catches a few hours of sleep. Finally after what feels like an eternity she's given a clean bill of health, or at least clean enough to be released home with strict instructions to rest and take off several weeks from work. She's never hated doctors more as they wheel her out to the car with Luke and David by her side. David bids her farewell before taking off in a cab to the office, promising her he'd get to the bottom of the incident in Russia.

Luke and her sit side by side as the black Lincoln Town car makes its way through the afternoon traffic. Not a word is said between them and when they finally reach their home Luke helps her inside and sits her down on the couch. They spend the rest of their day in an awkward silence. He says only a handful of things to her. "You have to eat something." "Don't move too much." "Just rest." "Get some sleep." That night they lay in their enormous bed and for the first time since they moved in together they don't sleep in each other's arms. Whether it's cause he's afraid of aggravating her injuries, or because he's upset with her; she's not sure but she doesn't sleep well that night. Scenes from the crash replay themselves in her mind when she shuts her eyes and the pain from her injuries makes it nearly impossible to get comfortable.

She's wide awake come morning but stays perfectly still and feigns sleep as he awakens. He says nothing and washes up before dressing in his usual work clothes. When she sits up in bed he finally speaks but only says he's heading to the office for the day for paperwork and will be back in the afternoon. Then repeats the few phrases he'd muttered the night before. She nods her head and tries her best not to roll her eyes. She knows deep down he's still worried about her but is upset with her too and he's probably not quite sure how to process it or how to approach her about it. So she says nothing and watches quietly as he walks out of the room. She hears his steps as he runs down the stairs, then hears the front door close and the truck's engine roar to life.

She lays back against the headboard and takes a deep breath. She lays still in the silence of the morning; thinking about everything that's happened and the fact that she lied. Finally her phone rings, the sound of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" fills the quiet room and she smiles slightly, thankful for the distraction.

"Hey Lucy." She answers with a smile.

"How are you feeling?"

"Eh…I'm okay." Angel replies. Every muscle in her body is stiff and her ankle is still throbbing but it's definitely an improvement from the first day. "How about you?"

"Been better." Lucy says with a chuckle. "I'm gonna come over and spend the day with you, is that okay?"

Angel smiles at the fact that Lucy is asking permission to come over, knowing that regardless of what she says the hyperactive blonde will show up on her door step and pick the lock if need be to keep an eye on her. "Sure."

"Great. I'll bring some movies and popcorn, we'll have a relaxing day." Lucy says happily.

"Sounds wonderful." Angel sighs as she slowly lifts herself from the bed. She hangs up and tosses the phone on the bed before looking over at the bathroom door then at her foot. "Fuckin' wonderful." Angel mutters as she slowly limps her way to the bathroom to wash up.

* * *

Luke pulls into the garage and parks his truck, shutting off the engine he sits in silence for a few moments. The whole drive in he could barely concentrate and is surprised he made it to work without much fuss. He feels so tired, having barely slept the night before with worry over Angel and her injuries. Anytime he closed his eyes to try and rest visions of what might've happened swarmed his mind. In so many of them he hadn't been this lucky and instead of going to pick her up he'd gone to pick up a casket. Just the thought of it had his heart pounding, chest aching.

She could've died. And for what? Her incessant need to resolve a job that went unfinished a year ago. A job that had already almost cost her life when she'd faced Malachai and his goons. He'd spoken with David about it, well more like yelled at him for allowing her to go on the job. David had insisted it had only been recon, but Luke didn't care. It was dangerous either way. David of coarse followed up by pointing out that she is an adult and capable of making her own choices. It served to only frustrate Luke more.

He wanted to yell at her for lying to him, yell at her for taking the stupid job, but when he saw her laying in that hospital bed he couldn't say anything at all. During the flight back he'd thought about mentioning it but she'd fallen asleep in his arms and he couldn't bring himself to wake her just to fight. Thankfully she'd relented to being checked again by a team of David's physicians and they'd assured him she'd be fine with some time and rest. He was thankful, but still angry.

He takes a moment to calm his thoughts and gets out of the car, grabbing his bag while walking to the doors. He nods his head and says a quick hello to the usual agents. Waves as he passes his superiors who just nod in return, and finally makes it to the sanctuary of his office where he quickly slams the door. He shuts the blinds and drops himself into his chair before tossing his bag on the nearby couch. He holds his head in his hands and tries not to think about anything for a few moments. He just needs some silence, a beer, and maybe just an hour's sleep. Then maybe, just maybe he'd be able to function for the rest of this day.

His hopes are dashed when he hears his door creak open, he lifts his head prepared to chew out the dumbass that dared to open his door without knocking only to be shocked to see David standing before him. "Agent Hobbs." David greets him formally. No one in their respective offices know that the two men know each other outside of work. To any passerby in the hall it's just a government official visiting yet another government office.

Luke stands and shakes his hand before moving to close the door. He looks curiously at David, wondering why on earth he's come to his office when he'd just seen the man less than 24 hours ago.

"Sit down. We need to talk."

Luke is immediately worried by his stern tone. "About Angel?"

"Not exactly." David says taking a seat.

Luke notices the man looks like he didn't sleep much the night before either, he looks quite stressed and then he notices the large file in his hands. "What about?"

"Nightshade."

The word alone causes Luke to tense slightly. That damned device caused trouble a year ago, and now is causing him more headaches. "Angel's not getting involved with anything…"

Before he can even finish the sentence David interrupts, "She's not going anywhere near the field for some time at least and definitely not for this." David reassures him quickly. He seems just as nervous about the thought as Luke feels. "When we got back from Russia I made the call to have my people working around the clock to find out who could've been behind trying to acquire these pieces, there are more people than I'd like to think about who would kill to get this device put together and sold to the highest bidder. Most couldn't possibly hope to pull off such an intricate job and with Angel tipping off the Russians it made the job even harder." David pauses for a moment before looking down at the folder in his hands, "There are few people crazy enough to try something so stupid, and even fewer who might even stand a chance of acquiring even one of the pieces."

"So….you found out who did it?" Luke asks hopefully.

"Not exactly, but we're getting very close and when we do we're going to need a team to bring them down." He pauses when he sees the glare that Luke shoots him. "I would never send in Angel after what's just happened." He assures him, "I'm working on gathering some potential candidates for a team now but I was thinking that perhaps…"

"I'm in." Luke doesn't even let him finish the sentence. He needs to finish this.

"Very good then," David says with a nod of his head as he stands. "look through the Intel and be ready to leave as soon as I call you."

Luke nods as he shakes David's hand. He watches the man leaves and shuts the door behind him. He spends the next two hours going through the file and pulling up more Intel on his computer before deciding to call it a day and head home. He has to pack a bag and be ready to haul ass, but first he's got to have a talk with Angel.

* * *

The sound of Lucy's laughter fills the living room, she's always loved the Three Stooges and they just happen to be giving a marathon so that's what they've been watching for the past few hours. Angel usually finds them entertaining but she can't bring herself to focus on the TV. It's just background noise to her thoughts which are jumbled at best. She's thinking about the people who caused the accident in Russia, about who could be behind it all, and then at the top of her list is Luke.

She's never felt so guilty about lying before. Lying is almost a vital part of her job and she's lied to everyone at one time or another. David who's like a father to her, Lucy and Meg who are like her sisters, and any teammates that came before them. Little white lies or incredibly life altering lies, it never made much difference to her and she never lost any sleep over it. So why does she feel so incredibly rotten for lying to Luke?

"You seriously need to stop because you're just constantly sulking and you're going to end up with wrinkles." Lucy mumbles with a mouth full of popcorn.

Angel casts her a glare. "He didn't talk to me last night." She says quietly, 'or hold me' her thoughts add.

"He's upset because he was worried and you were hurt. He'll get over it and you guys will be back to your usual sickening selves." Lucy grins in an attempt to lighten her mood.

The sound of the front door opening draws their attention. "Angel?" Luke calls out.

"In the living room."

Lucy notices Angel's shoulders tense slightly at the sight of Luke. "Hey there big guy." She greets him warmly as usual.

"Hey Lucy." He smiles before looking at Angel.

Lucy can see the concern in his eyes as he quickly looks her over. He smiles softly at her and she smiles back. She can tell that they clearly need to talk and quickly decides to make herself scarce. "Oh jeez, you know what I completely forgot that Meg wanted me to stop by today and…" She's always been a bad liar and thankfully Angel helps her out.

"Oh yeah, yeah of course. I'm sorry to have kept you. Tell Meg I'm doing just fine and that if she needs any other help to let me know." Angel says as she waves goodbye to Lucy who makes a hasty exit.

The sounds of Larry, Moe, and Curly's hijinks are all that's heard in the large house as Angel and Luke stare silently at each other. Finally Luke breaks the silence, "Are you feeling okay?" before she can respond, "Have you eaten?"

Maybe it's the pain she's in, maybe it's the meds she's on but she really wants to grab one of the throw pillows and throw it at his face for asking the same stupid questions, the only words he's muttered to her in the past 24 hours. She just nods her head, her mind swarming with thoughts of what she'd like to say to him.

She looks at him and notices that he looks tired and very serious. Not his usual smiling self when he's around her, but more like when they're in the field on a job but even then he still looked happy to see her. So she takes a deep breath and says the words she's never ever really said to anyone. "I'm sorry." It's barely above a whisper but he hears it. She can't find the words to continue and add 'for lying' but she feels it's implied. She watches him for his reaction.

Not a muscle moves, not on his body or his face. She stares into his dark eyes and he into hers and a few moments tick by though she swears it feels like an eternity. 'Maybe he didn't hear me?' she thinks to herself. She's about to repeat it, maybe louder this time but he speaks.

"Sorry doesn't fix it." His voice is serious to match his face, but it's not the seriousness of his tone that bugs her. It's the coldness he's slipping into it. The same way he does when they're out on the field and he has to push himself away from emotions, the same way he used to be before they started their relationship. It hurts more than she'd care to admit and she can feel it sink into the pit of her stomach.

"Luke I know that I shouldn't have lied but it was just…" She tries to explain calmly but she can feel her voice shake slightly as her emotions become harder to control.

"You could've died." He says a little louder.

"I was fine it was just a simple recon job and…" she tries again to explain but knows she can't justify lying.

"And if you didn't get injured I would've never known about it?" He finishes for her. His calm demeanor is slowly crumbling as he continues. "How many other times have you lied about…"

"I haven't lied before, this was more of an omission." She knows she's grasping at straws now but she's getting a bit frustrated. "And I'm fine!" she stresses.

"You're fine?"

She rolls her eyes, "I'm here aren't I?"

"You could've been at the bottom of a fucking lake!" He says aggressively. The sentence conjures up a horrible image in his mind but he pushes it aside.

"And how many times have you put your life on the line for the sake of a job Luke?"

"It's not…" he starts.

"Are you gonna say it's not the same? Cause it is Luke. It doesn't matter that you're the man, that you're big and strong but you've put your life on the line same as me or any of the agents out there and we don't always come back unscathed. It's a part of our lives and it's something I've accepted and you should too."

"What about the jobs we've been on? Huh? What about the jobs I've had to come on at the last minute to save your ass?" He's angry now and lashing out without thinking, it works.

"Save my ass? You helped me a few times and I've always been grateful but I am more than capable of handling myself and…"

"Handling yourself?" He chuckles rudely, "Is that what you called what you were doing with Malachai?" he adds sarcastically.

Well, that hit a nerve. "Seriously?" She can't believe he'd have the gall to bring that up. She'd never shown weakness in her life except for a handful of times, most of which were recent and in the presence of Luke because she loved him and felt she could trust him. She didn't think it'd be pushed back in her face. "I would've handled it." She says it truthfully, knowing that she would've had a fair chance regardless of her injuries at the time of turning the situation around and maybe even coming out on top. She was a skilled agent, and she would've given it her all or died trying.

"The same way you handled this recon job?" His emotions, mainly anger and hurt, are talking for him and somewhere in the back of his mind the rational part of his brain is screaming at him to shut the fuck up.

Her emotions don't exactly help matters and before she can stop herself she's blurted it out. "Or maybe the same way you handled Brazil?" The look that flashes across his face, the coldness in his eyes, suddenly she thinks that perhaps a slap would've hurt him less than the words she chose. But his words hurt her too, and she's torn between remaining silent and stubborn in her stance or apologizing for saying something hurtful to the man she loves.

Their stares remain locked on each other, dark eyes to dark eyes, cold stare to cold stare as they both keep up their emotional walls. Their faces unreadable, muscles completely tense and each of them silently hoping the other will speak first say anything to make this moment hurt less.

At the end of the day, stubbornness wins out and he finally turns and walks to his office. He shuts the door behind him and at the sound of the latch closing she lets out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. The tears begin to well in her eyes and she lets them fall.

* * *

Luke forgoes the glass and grabs the bottle of whiskey from the shelf, taking a long draw from the bottle before setting it on the edge of his table. He drops himself onto the chair and takes a deep, shaky breath. The argument replays itself in his mind and he cringes at everything he told her, and feels the familiar pain in his chest when he hears her mention Brazil. He tries to rationalize it all in his mind, they were both angry and emotions got the better of them both. When you're angry you say things you don't really mean, he tells himself. He knows it's true and knows he should've done better to express his concerns but emotions were never his strong suit.

He was upset that she'd lied, that much is true but the lying wasn't the biggest part of it all. What hurt him more than anything was the thought that she could've died and he wouldn't have known or been able to help all because she had went on a job without telling him. Instead of just telling her his concerns or voicing them reasonably like normal couples he blew up and now he had to contend with a very pissed off CIA agent/girlfriend.

He takes another gulp from the bottle before setting it back down. He can't afford to drown his emotions right now, not when he has to wait for David's call. He looks down at the files given to him on the Nightshade device and at the dossiers on possible candidates for his "team". Most were rookies fresh off the farm, but some looked promising. He held high hopes at being able to secure a good team to catch whoever the hell was causing him this grief.

He decides to be productive with the few hours he has and starts organizing his weapons for the trip, cleaning and tweaking his guns to perfection and taking count of his ammo. Three very long hours go by of him prepping and trying to force thoughts of his fight with Angel out of his mind when he finally gets the call from David. "That was quick." He says when he answers his call.

"They hit Russia." David sounds exasperated.

"Wait they what?"

"Russia, they managed to retrieve the piece in Russia." David clarifies.

Luke finds it hard to believe, he read through the files David gave him which included Intel on the security measures taken by Russia to secure the piece. It seemed a nearly impossible feat. "Who?"

"That's what we're going to find out but I need you on a plane immediately."

"Team?" Luke says as he quickly packs the weapons into their case.

"Not completed but I have someone who will meet you on the ground and I assure you the agent is top notch."

"Fine. I'm on my way to the airport."

"Luke?"

"Yes?"

"I think that it's best we not tell Angel what this job entails, don't you?"

"She can't find out." Luke agrees.

"Good, I'll call you when I get more information." David says before hanging up.

Luke pockets his phone and grabs his gear and weapons bags before heading out the office and to his truck. He tosses the bags in the passenger seat and suddenly stops. He looks up at the house, all the lights are off. He's not sure if she's sleeping or awake but he can't leave without at least seeing that she's okay.

He walks quietly back into the house and up the steps, careful to not make any noise. Their bedroom door is closed and he pauses, unsure if he should go in or leave her be. He listens intently, hoping to hear something that'll tell him what she's doing. Nothing but silence greets his ears though. His hand reaches for the door knob but he stops himself. 'I'll handle this when I get back.' He thinks to himself as he turns and goes back down the steps as silently as he came up. 'She's probably sleeping' he tries telling himself to justify his cowardice as he starts the truck and makes his way to the airport.

* * *

So...I know that this past weekend was Valentines day weekend (happy Valentines day by the way) but I went and posted this argument instead of some much requested "hotness". Apologies, but it's been coming for a bit now and I just happened to finish the chapter at this time. On the bright side the story is now merging with FF6 which will be interesting. As always thank you so much for reading, reviewing, fav'ing, and following.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey dear readers, I finished this chapter and decided to post it now and start working on the next one to hopefully have it done by this weekend. I'm very excited with this story and am going to try and update frequently. The reviews for the last chapter were so awesome so thank you very much for that! I hope you enjoy this. Thanks for reading.

* * *

It's a ten hour flight from DC to Moscow, and it's made even more grueling by the fact that he's sitting alone in the back of the plane with nothing but his thoughts for company. He had tried his best to focus and go over whatever Intel he could get his hands on, David was more than happy to provide him with plenty of reading material and kept sending him documents to his laptop during his flight. He'd seen the few photos provided of the damage done in Moscow and couldn't believe that someone managed to pull this off. Until David had called him 4 hours into the flight to let him know that they'd found out who'd been responsible.

Owen Shaw. He'd heard the name before, and upon reading the Intel provided by David he realized just how formidable this opponent would be. A small part of him was worried, depending on what he found in Moscow, he's not quite sure whatever team David was putting together would be enough to bring this man down.

He'd managed to focus on the job for the first few hours of the flight, but then the majority of his mind switched focus to Angel. He hated himself for leaving without saying goodbye, even worse, without telling her he loved her. He feels incredibly guilty for that and he keeps trying to justify his walking out the way he did. 'She may have been sleeping' he keeps telling himself, then tries to fall back on his anger towards her for lying but even that doesn't hold up. "I was an asshole." He mumbles to himself as he thinks back on his behavior and what he said.

For the hundredth time that night he pulls out his cell phone, his thumb hovering over her contact icon as he wonders if he should call her. He looks at his watch, it's still in the early morning hours in DC and he doesn't want to wake her if she's resting. He opens up the gallery on his phone and looks over the pictures. Before he met her there hadn't really been a photo gallery on his phone. Just a few car pictures, and maybe a couple international scenery pictures he's taken while on assignment. Now, almost every photo was of her, or them both, and some even with Lucy and Meg.

One in particular catches his attention for a few moments, it's his favorite. He'd caught her one morning, the sun streaming through the windows as she lay peacefully in their bed with one of his large t-shirts covering her. She had smiled brightly for the shot, despite the fact that she'd started cursing at him for even pulling out the camera. Her hair was hanging down around her in curls and she'd looked perfect in his eyes. He finds himself smiling despite himself and turns off his phone before stuffing it back in his pocket. "Focus" he says with a deep breath. He's got a job to do, he has to end this and stop this device from falling into the wrong hands. He can't do his job if he's thinking about her and the argument that they'd had.

"Sir we're going to be landing in the next few moments." The co-pilot tells him and he straps himself in as the plane begins its descent.

When they finally land he grabs his bags and makes his way to the truck David has waiting for him. He drives through the midday traffic and finally reaches the scene in Moscow. He slowly pulls through the barricade, glancing at the numerous ambulances and cop cars. He spots a woman standing off to the side speaking with the soldiers and recognizes her from her file.

"Riley Hicks." He greets her as she approaches him with some files, immediately falling into step beside him as they make their way through the scene.

"Special Agent Hobbs." She greets in return.

"I read your file," he tells her, still very impressed with what he saw. "top of your class at FLETC. Cairo, Tunis…" he nods his head in approval. "youngest RSO ever in Afghanistan. Hell, if you're half as good as you are on paper, we're going to get along just fine." He nods as he surveys the damage. It looks a hell of a lot worse in person than it did in the pictures that were sent to him. "A Russian Military Caravan attacked, satellite component stolen. Cars just came out of nowhere. Si hospitalized, at least a dozen vehicles destroyed. All that in under 90 seconds, in and out." He almost admires the precision it would take to pull this off.

"This is world class." Agent Hicks says with a nod.

Luke agrees silently, "A job this good, there's only one crew in the world that can get this done." Maybe more than one team, but Toretto 'retired' and has been living quietly for the past year and a half.

"How the hell did that get up there?" Agent Hicks wonders, Luke glances at the car embedded in the concrete building two stories up and can't begin to imagine how it happened. "They caught one." She tells him, catching his immediate attention.

It's a lucky break he hadn't expected with a crew so precise. "Where?"

It only takes them a few moments to arrive at Interpol Headquarters and they move quickly through the building, down the halls and into the interrogation rooms. "I've got you five minutes with this guy." Agent Hicks informs him.

"I only need two." He says confidently as he opens the door with a grin. He takes a moment to stare at the man in front of him, 'this should be easy' he thinks to himself. "I want your boss, where's Shaw?"

He watches as the man stands and squares off in front of him. "I ain't telling you shit." He says cockily.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He relishes in the opportunity to burn off a little bit of the anger and frustration that's been building inside him as he grabs the man by his collar and tosses him across the room. He can hear the tiles on the wall shatter as the man slides down the wall and hits the ground. The man gets up quickly, much to his surprise, and actually tries to put up a fight. He easily blocks his punches and delivers a few quick hits of his own.

Agent Hicks watches on from the adjoining room, impressed by what she's seeing. The young Interpol agent at her side watches with a mix of fear and worry. "Is that legal?" he asks hesitantly.

"No," she watches as Luke easily lifts the man and slams into the ceiling before bringing him back down onto the table, watching as it splinters under the weight. "but are you going to go in there and tell him that?" It's definitely not the standard way of handling an interrogation, but she can't argue with the results.

"I've got rights you asshole." The man groans out as Luke stands above him.

Luke shakes his head, "Not today." He tells him as he picks the man up, tossing him once more into the ceiling and watching his body drop on the cold hard ground. He looks up at the two way mirror and shrugs his shoulders, knowing no doubt that the Interpol agent as well as Agent Hicks are watching his every move.

Agent Hicks watches on in amusement as she hears the man's cries of "no" before she watches Agent Hobbs walk out of the now destroyed interrogation room. "Well, is he talking?"

"Not anymore."

She smiles slightly, "That room was bugged, so whatever information you just beat out of him Interpol has now."

"Great, now they can take the morning off. Shaw's in London."

"Let's go pick him up."

"Woman, you just don't pick up Owen Shaw like he's groceries." He wishes it were so simple. "If you wanna catch wolves, you need wolves." And he's got the perfect pack in mind. "Let's go hunting."

* * *

So? I hope it's okay, trying to merge with FF6 now and working in the movie parts with stuff behind the scenes with Luke and Angel so it's gonna be a little weird but i'm looking forward to it. Thanks for reading, reviewing, fav'ing, and following.


	8. Chapter 8

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Quick reminder, John Feldman is one of my made up characters, he's briefly mentioned in the first story at around ch 11 as one of the assholes at the CIA that Angel and the girls report to. Thanks for reading.

* * *

The sound of his footsteps echo throughout the empty hall, the harsh white lights irritating his already foul mood. He reaches the elevators and places his hand on the biometric scanner, once it blinks green it requests vocal confirmation of identity to which he replies, "John Feldman". The doors open swiftly and he steps inside, hitting the basement level indicator he waits impatiently to arrive. Once the doors slide back open he steps out and quickly makes his way to the end of the hall, David's office.

He doesn't bother knocking but just swings the door open and slams it shut behind him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" The glare David gives him almost causes him to apologize, but he holds his ground.

"I beg your pardon?" David asks quietly. He knew his current course of action with the 'Nightshade' job wouldn't sit well with John. But he doesn't really care what John thinks, what he knows is that this was the best chance he had at taking down Shaw.

"Why the fuck did you send in the incredible Hulk and a team of low lives to bring down one of the most highly trained…" John begins shouting.

David's quick to stand and move in front of John, mere inches from his face with a scowl that would frighten most agents. "May I remind you who you're talking to John?"

David's voice is low but fierce and John quickly swallows his words. He takes a deep breath and tries to calmly voice his thoughts. "They're going to get killed and Shaw will get away with this and disappear into the wind again."

"I've spoken with Hobbs, he was the best choice to lead this mission." David states confidently. He believes in Hobbs, he's a damned good agent. He hadn't been too thrilled about his choice in team but when he'd spoken to Hobbs he'd given him the chance to explain his choice. Hobbs had also sent him the files he had on the Toretto crew. Once he'd looked over their details he realized just how right Hobbs was.

"He's not even with us. He's DSS, not the same level as…"

"He's an incredible agent and knows what he's doing. I trust him and I've approved his choice of team. I've provided the necessary equipment and will monitor the situation myself. You're assistance is not required for this assignment."

"I am the operations coordinator for your teams I…" John immediately becomes enraged.

"My teams aren't out on the field at the moment so you have nothing to coordinate."

John's face grows redder in his anger. "Fine. Just fine. Fuck up this mission so they can finally fire your antiquated ass and I can just take your position. Then I'll get rid of Angel and the rest of her team." He says angrily before storming out of the office and back to the elevator.

David can hear him muttering curses the whole way down, till the elevator doors finally shut. He walks to his door and closes it before sitting back down at his desk. He pulls out a cigar and lights it, taking a long draw and breathing out the soothing smoke slowly. He looks down once more at the screen in front of him. The files of Toretto's crew are strewn across the screens, they are a talented bunch, and he'll give them that. Luke also trusts them, and that speaks volumes in David's eyes.

Trust, just the thought of that word has him cringe slightly. He looks at the framed photo on the edge of his desk. A young teenage girl smiling brightly, dark wavy hair flowing behind her as she holds up her catch of the day. Her eyes practically twinkle with happiness and on either side are two equally bright and smiling young girls, a blonde and a red head. His girls, his team, Angel, Lucy, and Meg. He's known them for so long, trained them himself and has had a hand in their becoming the women they were today. He'd trust them with his life and he knows they trust him too. But he's betrayed that trust with Angel and it hurts him to think on it.

On the flight back from Russia she had asked him if he'd found out who was after the device and he'd lied and told her they'd find out. The truth had been that he'd known before he'd sent her and the girls to Russia that Owen might be involved. He'd known for two months that it was a very real possibility Owen Shaw had been setting everything up. It's why he'd sent them for Capouro, he needed to question him for confirmation that Shaw was indeed behind this. Capouro couldn't confirm it, but the idiot had given them some valuable Intel.

Intel which led them to Moscow and that's when he'd sent in Angel and the girls for further recon. He didn't tell Angel of his suspicions for fear of what she would do, and he'd thought they'd be safe because of Angel's past with Shaw. He hadn't expected to get that phone call from Lucy. When he'd heard her shaken voice his heart had dropped, immediately assuming the worst. She had assured him they were alive but had informed him that Angel had been badly injured. He'd never felt so guilty and so horrible, he had assured her that he'd be on a flight over instantly and on his way to the airport called Luke to inform him.

The entire flight to Moscow was spent in worry while having Luke berate him for sending them off on a job without telling him. He understood the man's anger and so he'd curbed his own emotions and simply sat in silence for the duration of the flight. Once they had arrived he'd hugged Lucy and Meg tightly and wanted to do the same with Angel till he saw her bruised and lying in the hospital bed. He wanted to confess to her right then and there what he'd done and what he knew but he left Luke with her to comfort her and waited in the hall.

On the flight back he'd been tempted to tell her and Luke, but upon thinking on the situation he realized it would benefit no one for her to know. Given her past ties to Owen Shaw, if he told her that he was in fact involved with trying to acquire and build the 'Nightshade' device he knew she'd stop at nothing to be a part of the mission to stop him, regardless of her injuries. What's worse is that he didn't know how Shaw or Angel would react to seeing each other after over a decade spent playing on opposite sides of the law. It was simpler to keep the truth from her in order to get the job done swiftly and quietly, but it didn't make lying to her or Luke any easier.

He pulls out his cell phone and dials Luke, growing impatient as it rings numerous times without answer. Finally he gets a response, "We're on the flight to London now." Luke says briefly.

"Let me know once you land. I have a command center set up with the equipment necessary for your task. There are cars prepped for your arrival as well, just as you asked." David spared no expense with the equipment he acquired for this job. He knew their success could very well depend on it. "Can you trust them?" He asks, even though he knows the men might be near him while he speaks.

"Yes." Luke answers without hesitation.

"Good luck then."

* * *

Luke tucks his phone back into his pocket and looks briefly out the window. He's tired but knows that trying to sleep would be futile. He looks over at O'Connor who's managing to take a nap in the chair up front. Toretto catches his eye and stands, walking over to him to take a seat across from him. He's still holding Letty's file in his hands, almost as if he's afraid to let it go.

"So you're really doing this?" He asks Luke.

Luke looks up at him questioningly, "What?"

"Asking a bunch of wanted felons to help you?"

Luke smiles slightly, "To catch a wolf, you need a wolf."

Toretto smiles back. He holds the folder in his hands and looks at the pictures again. Luke watches as emotions play across his face. Happiness, a slight smile and then it slowly fades to almost a frown. A sadness sets deep into his eyes and his shoulders sag under the invisible weight of whatever ghosts haunt him. "Are you sure she's riding with him?"

Luke just nods his head, watching as Toretto closes the folder and leans back in his seat. "You okay?" He watches as he just nods back.

A few minutes go by with them sitting in a comfortable silence, each man mulling over their thoughts before Dom speaks. "You got a girl back home Hobbs?"

The question catches Luke off guard and he looks over at Dom. "Yeah, I do." His thoughts immediately drift to Angel, but he keeps his face serious and unreadable.

"You love her?"

That question causes him to glare at Toretto, he doesn't answer.

Dom ignores the glare and continues, "Does she know what you do for a living?"

Luke nods.

"Is she okay with it?"

Luke sighs, "I wouldn't say okay."

"Letty was always worried about me." Dom says quietly, "Even though she was always right there by my side doing all the stupid shit I'd do." Luke notices as Dom's face lightens when talking about her. He tells him about Letty, about the kinds of things that aren't in the files. About her sharp wit and humor, about her attitudes and her passion for cars. Then he watches as his face grows sad again as he mentions the Dominican Republic, how he left her without saying goodbye.

"I thought I was protecting her." Dom says so quietly.

Luke finds himself looking down at his boots, he doesn't know where else to look as the weight of what he's done and said finally comes crashing against him. "Sometimes we think we're doing what's best for them, what's keeping them safe. But at the end of the day, all we've really done is made shit worse."

* * *

Kind of a short chapter, hope i wasn't crummy. Thanks for reading, fav'ing, following and of course reviewing! I love the reviews, thank you so much for them.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello everyone! Let me just say that working on this story is alot of fun, i'm really trying to get to the reconciliation part for Luke and Angel but I do want to work Dom and crew into the story too. So i'm sorry if it seems like i have more filler chapters in this story than I did in the first one. Thank you to those who follow and fav, and to the wonderful reviewers! You guys/gals are awesome. The last chapter had several reviews which were much longer than i'd ever expected but it was so amazing to read those! Oh and to the guest who wanted to know who said the last line in ch 8, it was Luke. Thanks for reading, hope you like it.

* * *

Jumping out of a moving vehicle, from a height of over 20 feet onto another moving vehicle was definitely not one of his brighter plans. He lets out a slight groan as he stretches his arm out, releasing a hiss when he feels it click. He flexes his shoulders back, then arches his back, and he can hear the various cracks and pops of his joints audibly 'voicing' their opposition to his idiotic idea.

At the time it seemed like a smart plan, but he hadn't been thinking too clearly. Instead he'd been focused on trying to get the job done as quickly as possible. He knew that if he could've caught Shaw in that moment he would've been on a flight home right now to try and fix the situation with Angel. Instead he's on his way back to the warehouse to try and figure out what went wrong and plan their next steps.

He pulls his truck up beside the other cars and is happy to see every member of his team safe and sound. "Alright lock it up." He shouts as he steps out of his vehicle. "We got two things," he says as he makes his way towards them. "first off this is the worst damned city in the world to commit a crime. They got cameras on every street corner, I got video footage from CCTV of the raid." He hands the drive to Tej, "See if you could track that and see where it leads us."

He makes his way over to the tables as the rest of the team gathers around him. "And secondly, we just got confirmation on what Shaw's crew grabbed from Interpol." He tries his best not to focus on the photos of Shaw's team, tries his best to ignore that he can recognize the largest member as the man from the hospital in Moscow. He'll deal with that later. "They ripped off a database of every location that houses the final component that they need."

"So where are they at?" Brian asks as he steps closer to the table.

Riley steps up to answer, "There are over two dozen of them around Europe."

"But the list is only good for 96 hours." Luke interjects. He's not too happy with the timeframe but he'll take what he can get. "Which means wherever Shaw's crew is going to hit next is going to happen within the next 4 days. They got a window, and so do we. We gotta move now."

"Hobbs is right." He's glad to see Dom's well on board with the situation. "So let's break this down. What do we know?"

Tej sighs from his desk surrounded by his computers, "We know they have to be running custom engines." He glances over at Riley with a knowing smile, this is why he picked this team. He'd known when he'd read the files and done the research on Shaw's team that Shaw was a car fanatic and obviously a master at his craft. Who better to help bring him down than this crew?

Riley seems to agree as she smiles back, they listen intently for a few moments as the team discuss what they know and all they've learned about Shaw and his team just from having driven against them tonight. Luke watches closely as Dom issues his orders. Han, Giselle, and Roman are going to search for the mastermind behind the cars he saw tonight. Riley immediately offers her assistance and he nods as she follows after them.

Dom gives Tej his orders and he of course steps in. He still has some rules to follow and though David pretty much gave him free reign for the assignment, even going so far as to provide some of the greatest equipment he's ever worked with. He's sure that he won't approve of them stealing vehicles for this mission.

"Hobbs," Tej assures him with a sly grin, "I said I got this."

"This should be interesting." He can hear Dom say as he walks away. He watches Dom and Brian walk to the other side of the warehouse, still discussing his run in with Letty.

He had caught a glimpse at the bandage on Dom's shoulder and clearly knew that his reunion hadn't gone as expected. Tej seems to sense his curiosity. "She shot him." The techie informs him as he continues typing away at the desk.

"He okay?" Not quite sure if he's asking about Dom's physical or emotional state, because physically he didn't look too beat up but he's sure in his mind he's experiencing some turbulence.

"Would you be if the love of your life shot you?" Tej says candidly.

Luke chuckles for a moment before shaking his head, "I'd be dead." He answers before thinking.

The answer catches Tej's interest and he finds the man staring straight at him with a questioning gaze. "Dead?"

"Yeah," Luke says hesitantly, "it's what she's trained for."

Tej smiles before leaning back in his chair. "I thought you're not supposed to fraternize with fellow agents?" he's clearly enjoying his discussion, "Isn't that against your department's rules or somethin?"

Luke smiles back, "She's not DSS."

"This gets more and more interesting." Tej says as he gets back to his typing. "Is she FBI? Or maybe ATF?" He begins asking, "Or is she like a normal cop? Oh shit, is she an assassin or…"

"What are you working on? The story of my love life? Get to work and find those cars." He tells the man as he walks away shaking his head. When he finally gets to an isolated spot in the warehouse he takes a few moments to calm his mind. Or at least calm it as much as possible given his present situation. He enjoys the few moments of silence and pushes thoughts of this job away, briefly focusing on the issue that's eating away at him slowly these past two days.

He pulls out his cell phone, the screen is cracked from his stunt earlier but it's still in working order. Right before they'd started the botched attempt to catch Shaw by using their snitch as bait he'd called Angel. He hadn't been sure what he'd say if she'd answered, but he'd just wanted to hear her voice. She hadn't answered of course, he's sure she was probably beyond angry with him and probably wouldn't answer any of his calls for a bit. He couldn't bring himself to leave her a voicemail, he wasn't sure what to say so he'd just hung up.

Now he stares down at his phone and dials her number again, hoping this time she might answer. If she doesn't he's already decided to leave her at least a message. It rings for what seems like an eternity before finally going to her voicemail. "Angel," he hesitates. He won't apologize over voicemail, that's something that needs to be done in person he knows. There's so much he wants to say, needs to say, but his mind suddenly goes blank. "I had to go on a job, but uh…" he takes a deep breath "I just wanted to let you know I should be home in a few days. I love you, and I'll try calling you again later." He says before the message cuts off. He puts his phone back in his pocket and sighs in defeat.

"Hobbs?" He can hear Tej calling him but he doesn't respond yet. He leans against the brick wall for just a few moments more before Tej comes looking for him. "Hobbs are you comin'?"

Luke glances at Tej and can see the file he has in his hands, "What's that?"

"I told you, I got the car situation taken care of." Tej smiles.

Luke follows him out, "Just so long as we're not stealing any cars."

* * *

She can hear her phone beep, the small LED light flashing red for a moment, notifying her that a message had been left. She knows its Luke. He called earlier but she didn't answer and he hadn't left a voicemail. Now he had and she finds herself wanting desperately to hear it, but her pride and her anger remain stubborn and she curls up on the couch instead and keeps flicking through the channels. She's glad she's alone in the house, she'd talked Lucy and Meg into leaving a few hours ago though they'd both wanted to stay with her for comfort and to care for her since she was still injured.

She promised she'd be fine and finally managed to shoo them to their own homes. There are times when a person really just needs a few moments to themselves to think things through. She glances at her phone again and debates with herself whether or not it's a good idea to listen to the voicemail. She finally works up the courage to grab the phone and tap her voicemail icon. She holds her breath when she hears his voice. She can hear the hesitance, the nervousness in his tone. She swears she can feel sadness in it too, in just the few short words he speaks she knows that he's feeling exactly what she's feeling. She feels slight anger when he admits to being on a job, he'd never left before without telling her or saying a proper goodbye, but the anger dissipates somewhat when she hears him say he loves her.

She lets out a deep, shaky breath as she puts down her phone. She wants to call him back, but she's not sure if he'd been busy with his job. She struggles with the decision for a moment before dialing his number. She waits a few moments as it rings and shakes her head with disappointment when it goes to his voicemail. She knows he's not ignoring her call, he's most likely busy with whatever job he's doing. So she quickly leaves her message in hopes that when he has a moment he'll call her back. She doesn't expect to hash out the argument they'd had or resolve this issue but at least they'd start a dialogue.

"Hey, sorry I missed your call." She cringes slightly realizing she doesn't quite know what to say. "Please be safe," she tries her best to keep her voice steady but her emotions are seeping into it, "I love you too Luke."

* * *

Again thanks for reading. I have gotten some good input and ideas from recent reviews and PM's, I just wanted to ask something very quickly to anyone reading who feels like helping out here...I was originally planning on having Angel not exactly weave into FF6 (like not meeting Dom and crew or anything like that) but now i'm rethinking it. What do you guys/gals think? Any input is welcome!


	10. Chapter 10

Okay so this is one of the shorter chapters but I've felt bad for going so long without posting an update. I really wanna get to a certain part of the story which I have outlined already so it should be easier to update but with the new movie coming out (this Friday yay, which is also my Bday so double yay) i'm prob gonna start posting like crazy after this weekend with all the excitement from the movie anyway. So i'm just trying to move the story along. I hope you enjoy it, as always comments of any kind are always welcome. I own nothing except my story idea and my OC's. Thanks for reading.

* * *

She stretches under the warmth of her covers, her muscles tighten somewhat painfully as she does so. She moves her hand to his side of the bed and can feel the cold sheets under her fingertips where she's used to feeling the warmth of his body. Her chest tightens slightly and she realizes just how much she misses him. She reaches for her cell phone and saddens as she realizes she has no missed calls from him.

'Probably busy with the job' she tells herself as she tries not to be too disappointed. She replays his voicemail from the day before just to hear the 'I love you' and lays in bed a few more moments debating on whether or not she should go back to sleep or wake up and start her day. The choice is made for her when she hears the door downstairs open and then slam closed.

"Angel, you up?" Lucy's voice echoes through the house.

"Well if she wasn't she is now you dumbass." Meg says a little quieter.

She sighs deeply before sitting up in bed, "I'm upstairs." She slowly stands, feeling the ache in her ankle as she limps around her bedroom and to her bathroom to wash up. She can hear the sound of their footsteps as they run up the staircase and down the hall. Then the sound of them throwing themselves on her bed as they wait for her to finish up.

When she comes out of the bathroom they're lying in the enormous bed chatting quietly. She glances over at the clock and sees it's quite early, far more early than usual for Lucy to be up. "So what are you girls doin' here?" She asks curiously as she watches their faces closely for reactions. Their faces are far too serious and it worries her. "What wrong?" She starts to feel a little worried and seeing the glances Lucy and Meg exchange do nothing to ease her worries.

"Let's go to your office so we can explain as we show you." Lucy says as she stands and walks to her side to help her walk a little easier. Meg follows suit.

"What exactly are you going to show me?" Angel asks as they help her down the stairs and to her office. She sits down in the large wing chair in the corner as they start moving around. She watches as Meg turns her computer monitor towards Angel so she can see, Lucy plugs in a flash drive and pulls up some video and picture files.

"Come on girls, just tell me what you're doing already so I can move on with my day and go eat some waff…" the images flashing onto her monitor give her pause. "Is that Moscow?" she asks recognizing the buildings they'd just seen a few days before.

Lucy nods her head as she zooms in on some of the images. "They hit it pretty hard and managed to accomplish what we'd been trying to prevent."

She watches the still images closely, "How the hell did that car get there?" she asks noticing a car stuck into the building two stories up.

"Yeah they left quite the mess, but they managed to get away with the components." Meg tells her.

Angel leans back in her chair, her trip to Moscow had been in vain it seems. No good was done and whoever the hell had been after "nightshade" was a step closer to achieving it. Before she can continue her train of thought she notices Meg and Lucy continuously looking at each other somewhat anxiously. "What else is there?"

"Well….uh," Meg starts and then stops with her mouth slightly open as she searches for words. So Angel glances over at Lucy expecting her to continue.

"Well?" She asks as she waits for someone to explain what has them acting so strangely.

"When I saw the pics I called our contacts at Interpol in the Moscow offices and uh…" Lucy starts but again seems to hesitate in continuing.

"Come on you two what the hell is going on?"

Meg finally seems to have had enough and she brings up a few more photos. Angel stares curiously, waiting to see what the big deal is. She sees the cop cars, cleanup crews, and then the large truck comes into focus. A very familiar truck, and she tries telling herself it might be someone else's truck. After all, it's a very popular piece of equipment among tactical operations. Meg clicks through a few more pictures and she sees him clear as day.

"Luke." She says quietly to herself as a mix of emotions flutter through her ranging from worry to anger.

"There's something else you should see." Meg adds as she opens a video file and clicks play.

Angel watches as Luke 'interrogates' a man. She can't help but smile slightly at his methods, but the smile falls away almost instantly as the audio is turned up and she hears the suspect mutter a name. "Replay that." She says quickly, praying that she heard wrong.

Meg and Lucy glance at each other before replaying the few seconds of video, they watch as Angel practically sinks into her chair upon hearing the name confirmed. "Owen Shaw." She repeats quietly. "He's behind this." It seems like so many pieces click into place for her, the fact that some team ran her off the road only to rescue her. Owen would never try and kill her, but he would stop her from coming after him. And now Luke was in the middle of it all and he didn't quite know who he was up against.

"I need to find out where he is now." Angel says in a calm tone.

"In London, apparently he has a team and it got pretty crazy there just a…" Meg starts before Angel interrupts.

"How do you know?"

Meg and Lucy glance at each other again before Lucy nods her head and Meg hits play on another video file. "CCTV footage from London, one of my contacts provided it to me." Meg answers.

If her nerves weren't rattled before they sure are now as she watches footage of Luke's truck flying down the roads at high speeds, disappearing into tunnels, and then finally a wonderfully clear shot of him leaping from his truck in an attempt to land on a moving vehicle which she could only assume was driven by Owen Shaw.

"Angel…" Lucy walks over to her and kneels by her side. "you okay?" She's concerned with her silence and calm demeanor.

Angel takes a deep breath, "My boyfriend is chasing down Owen Shaw, jumping from vehicles and doing God only knows what else and I just finished watching video of some of the crazy shit that's going on. So no, I'm not okay right now." She says with an eerie calm.

"Well it is his job." Meg mutters quietly without thinking.

Angel looks up at her and realizes she's right, it is his job to deter crime and apprehend some of the most dangerous criminals but this is different. "Yeah well it's my job too."

Meg nods her head as she shuts down the computer. "I'll go get the plane ready." She says quietly, already anticipating what Angel was going to do.

"And I'll gather our supplies and contact my friends at Interpol in London to see what else I can find out before we fly out there." Lucy says with a smile as she squeezes Angel's hand reassuringly. She knows Angel very well, and knows that when she sounds the calmest is when a storm of emotions are swelling within her. She can't begin to imagine what her friend must be feeling knowing that the man she loves is going after a maniac like Shaw.

"Thanks." Angel says with a nod as she stands up slowly and limps her way back to her room. She dresses herself quickly and grabs her crutches, using only one to make her way downstairs quickly and to the garage. She knows that Luke couldn't possibly have known what this job meant, or her connection to Owen Shaw. She knows that there's no way DSS would've touched this job, not when she and her girls had been on it only a few days before. It's something that her agency would've kept in house. So Luke being assigned to this job could only mean one thing.

She pulls out her phone and dials his number, waiting impatiently as it rings. Finally David answers, "Good morning Angel, how are you feeling today?" She knows he's genuinely concerned, knows that he cares for her as he always has, as if she were his daughter almost, but right now all she can focus on is the fact that this man whom she's trusted and known for so long has sent the only man she's ever loved to face a man she knows to be a cold hearted, calculated killer.

"Morning David." She replies flatly, "Are you in the office today?"

"Yes actually we were just getting ready to go into a meeting. Why? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, I won't keep you from your meeting then. I'll talk to you soon."

* * *

So now she's going to confront David for his betrayal of sending Luke out onto the field for this crazy job. Plus i have to bounce back to Luke and Dom and what they're doing while this is taking place. And I have a huge plan for everything but haven't had enough time to type as much as i'd like to. To those who keep asking me about the smut chapters, believe me i'm trying to get to another one as soon as possible cause they're a lot of fun but I gotta add some story to this too. I'll keep working on it though. I hope it wasn't bad, thanks for reading and thanks to those who reviewed, followed, and/or fav'd. I appreciate it as always.


	11. Chapter 11

Another short chapter, prepping for the next few crazy ones. Thanks for reading.

* * *

"They haven't caught him yet." John Feldman points out annoyingly, a few of the other suits in the room murmur amongst themselves till a glare from David silences them all.

"I assure you the job will be done and Shaw will be brought in within a few days' time." David says as patiently as possible.

Any argument John has dies on his lips the moment the conference room doors burst open. Angel limps inside with the assistance of a crutch, but even in her injured state the anger in her eyes is still imposing enough to worry the men in the room. All except David.

"We need to talk." She says staring straight at him, she watches as the others quickly stand and grab their documents and make their way out of the room. John is the only one that lingers behind, grinning smugly at David.

"I think she may have found out what 'loverboy' is up to." He whispers as he walks by David.

As he makes his way by Angel she glares at him too, "I'll handle you later." She says menacingly and he suddenly picks up his pace, practically running down the hall. She shuts the doors behind her as she slowly makes her way to David.

She does her best to keep herself from trembling with the swell of emotions in her. The more prominent of them is anger, followed closely by betrayal. Anger that he'd neglect to tell her who had been behind this entire debacle, and hurt at his betrayal of keeping it from her and then sending Luke in to the madness.

"When?" She keeps her voice steady, though quiet.

David looks over her, glancing down at her injured leg, then at the crutch she's leaning against. "My dear you're hurt you should have a …"

"When David?" She says a little more forcefully this time. "When did you know it was him?"

David sighs as he closes his eyes for a moment, it hurts to have her angry at him but it had been for her own good. He'd hoped she'd never found out that he'd lied to her and kept this from her. "I found out that it might've been him a few weeks before you went to Moscow. But it was only a rumor and I didn't have any proof." He can't bare the look Angel gives him and can't look at her in the eyes, "I knew for sure after Moscow, that day in the hospital and on the flight back I pretty much confirmed it but I didn't…" he tries reaching for her hand he wants to hug her and pull her close but she yanks her hand a way and takes a step back from him.

"You knew it could've been Owen and you never told me." It's not a question, just part of her accusation. The fact that Owen Shaw was behind this changes everything. "And once you confirmed it was him you send Luke in after him."

He can hear the anger building in her voice, "You were injured, I wasn't going to send you on…" David tries justifying his actions.

"I was conveniently injured by the team in Russia, but even if I hadn't been injured you never would've told me it was Owen and you never would've sent me after him." Angel says knowingly.

"There were too many risks involved, your safety to me is paramount and I would have no way of knowing how Shaw would've reacted to your presence in the field." He truly had no idea of how Shaw would react to her after so long, or more importantly how Angel would react to him.

She knows that deep down he may have been concerned of her wellbeing and that of her team's, but she knows that a bigger part of it was his issue with her and Shaw's past. "Well it's obvious he didn't want me dead, if he had I would be." She knows that no matter how good an agent she's become in these past years if Shaw had the element of surprise on his side of her not knowing he was involved he could've picked her off. He was just that good, so the fact that she's still here, and that the team in Moscow had jumped in to grab her was just proof that he didn't want her dead, just out of the way.

"You don't trust me?" She's not sure if it's a question or accusation but she doesn't give him the chance to reply either way. "What the fuck did you think David? That I'd just pick up and join him in getting this off the ground?" She's angry and her voice quivers slightly as it raises in volume. His silence breaks her heart more than his words ever could. She steps up to him, just a few inches of space between them. "I would never go back to that life, to who I was with Shaw."

"Angelique I never…" David's voice falters slightly and he takes a deep breath. He never meant to hurt her, only to protect her. But he realizes now that deep in his mind he had been slightly afraid when he'd discovered it was Owen Shaw behind it all. Afraid because he truly didn't know how Owen would reach to seeing Angel after all these years, especially because of the terms they had parted on. Afraid because deep down, though he trusted, loved and respected Angel, he wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't go back to her old ways.

"You couldn't trust me David." She says it so quietly, barely above a whisper, but every emotion she's feeling drips from the words. "And now I can't trust you." She turns and moves away from his grasp as he reaches for her arm to stop her.

"Angel wait." He calls out as she makes her way to the door. He's not dumb enough to try and touch her again, if she's pulled away from him each time and tries it again he knows it won't end well for him. "Angel please, where are you going?" he calls out to her as she makes her way down the hall.

She hits the elevator button and watches the doors slide closed, just as they shut she shouts out, "To fix this."

* * *

Very short, I apologize, but i'm typing up the next ones and they'll be longer and more action packed. The movie finally comes out tomorrow! So i'll definitely be inspired to write quite a bit. Thanks for reading, reviewing, fav'ing, and following.


	12. Chapter 12

Oh boy, it's been a while since i've posted a chapter. So sorry it's taken this long. I promise I haven't forgotten the story though the chapters i've posted recently have been quite short. I apologize for that too. I thank you all so much for reading the story (and he first one too) and also for leaving such lovely reviews/PMs cause they really are amazing. So here goes a small chapter but I promise i'm working on a bigger and more exciting one for this week. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

She keeps her eyes on the clouds in the horizon, thankful that Lucy is copiloting because if this had been a solo flight she surely would've crashed by now with all the thoughts swirling in her mind. She hears the cockpit door open and Meg step in, "I've got confirmation, that guy you were checking out was just booked in a maximum security facility in Cali." Meg says handing Angel the tablet she'd been working on.

Angel flicks through the mug shot and record. She zooms in on the prison information for his current location and pulls up the most recent manifest of inmates to see why on earth Brian O'Connor would willingly enter the US knowing he'd end up in a cage for the rest of his life.

She scrolls through the prisoner names, opens a few of the files and continues her search, knowing that she's missing something. After a few minutes she stumbles upon a familiar name and it clicks into place. She smiles slightly as she opens the file and Meg notices.

"Watcha got?" Meg asks happily.

"Braga." Angel hands the tablet back to Meg. "That's who he's there for. He and Toretto were the reason our boys could catch that bastard and he's the only one at that prison that O'Connor would have any reason to get captured for. Whatever the hell he's doing back in the States it has to do with that piece of shit." Angel says as she finally manages to focus her mind on the flight.

Lucy is more than happy to hand the controls over to her and she grabs the tablet and checks the files herself. It does make sense, he's looking for information and the only way to get it would be going to the prison and getting as close to Braga as possible. "This guy's probably gonna get shanked within the first few hours of being there. Braga is going to want revenge."

Angel shakes her head, "I think O'Connor is capable of handling himself if what I've read in his files is true. But that doesn't concern me too much. I need to know what he needs from Braga, and what Braga has to do with this current issue. Plus I'm gonna have to make sure O'Connor makes it out of there and back to wherever it is they currently are so we can tag him and meet up with Luke."

Meg and Lucy nod their heads. "So we officially have a plan now?"

Angel takes a deep breath and nods, "Sort of."

* * *

"So that's your plan?" Meg sounds concerned as she walks slowly beside Angel as they make their way down the security corridor of the maximum security facility currently holding Braga. "You're going to let O'Connor walk away without asking him what he was…"

"He's not walking away just like that Meg. He's getting on a plane which will be piloted by Lucy. So when they land she'll let us know. We'll have him followed and we'll find out where they are and exactly what they're doing before joining up with them." Angel explains quickly as she nods to a security guard who opens one of the large, thick, steel doors sealing off the segregated area of the prison.

"Why didn't you ask him about what he came here for first?" Meg wonders.

"Because he might not have told us, he has no reason to trust us. So we'll use him to show us where the team is at and I'll ask Braga what O'Connor came all this way for."

As they walk up to the small, isolated cell, they look upon the man inside. He's got a bandage on his nose and blood on his jumper. He looks pissed and ready to strike. "I don't think he's going to cooperate." She says with a huff before glancing at Angel only to catch her grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm counting on it." She says before she waves her hand at the guard in the control room. As the buzzer sounds the large door slides to the side and they both step into the cramped room. "Hi there." Angel says with what would appear to be a friendly smile, but Meg knows different.

'His jumper's about to get a lot bloodier' Meg thinks to herself.

"Who the fuck are you?" The man spits out. Judging by the way he's got his arm around his midsection they can tell that O'Connor did quite a number on him. He's angry and isn't going to take them seriously since they're just women.

Angel's used to that kind of behavior, she's also become an expert at teaching men that it's the wrong way to think about her. She stands as straight as her condition would allow, cursing the damned crutch that she needs as she knows it takes away from her usual intimidating demeanor. "Our identity is none of your concern Mr. Braga, we'd just like to ask a question or two."

"Go fuck yourself." He barely finishes the last syllable before Angel punches him in the nose. The blood begins rushing forward, as do his curse words and angry slurs. His eyes clench in pain as he covers his nose with both hands, blood pouring between his fingers.

"Now that's not a way to talk to ladies Mr. Braga." Angel says calmly with a grin. "Now let's try this again shall we?" She looks at Meg who nods in response.

"A man named Brian O'Connor came here just to visit with you Mr. Braga. What did he want?"

Braga straightens himself as best he can, the flow of blood slowing but not stopping entirely, he keeps a hand over the bridge of his nose while wiping the other off on his jumper. "I don't know who…" another punch, this time to his abdomen cuts him off midsentence. He recovers somewhat quickly and makes a move to hit Angel but she dodges his hit and elbows him on the side of the head. He lands back in his blood stained cot and stays still for a moment.

"It'd be a lot easier and less painful if you just answered the question." Meg advises him quietly as Angel takes a step back. They give him a few moments, and he sits quietly but intently focused on Angel. Meg watches him closely, prepared to pounce should he try and attack. She knows Angel's capable of handling herself but she is injured still and growing weary with each passing moment.

After several minutes he finally speaks. "He had a picture of you."

Meg watches Angel stare curiously at the man. "O'Connor?"

"No." Braga shakes his head, "Shaw."

Meg watches Angel closely, noticing how her entire body tenses. "A picture?" Meg mumbles quietly.

"Yeah. You're still just as beautiful as you were in the picture." He says with a grin, "Your hair's a little longer, but yeah he had your picture with him when I'd meet up with him for our little chats I'd be able to see it." He stands slowly, cautious not to move too quickly, knowing that any quick movement might bring another swift hit to his face or body.

"What business did you have with Shaw? And what information did you have for Brian?"

"You really don't remember me?" He asks indignantly. He doesn't give her a chance to answer, "Nah, I didn't think you did. It's been a very long time since you saw me, and when we last met I wasn't no one of consequence." He smiles slightly. "But you, you I remember." He says looking her over.

"How do you know Shaw?" Angel repeats the question, ignoring his babble.

"The same way you do, well, not exactly the same way. I worked for him but I was just a lowly underling when we met. You didn't pay me much mind anyway since you were busy." He grins again, clearly enjoying himself.

Meg notices Angel silence and worries briefly at what her friend may be thinking. "Why was O'Connor here?" Meg asks again, this time stepping right in front of him. He flinches slightly but the smile doesn't leave his face.

"He wanted to know about the girl Toretto is after, about what had happened to her in the accident." He tells Meg when she takes a step closer to him.

Meg had read the files on Leticia Ortiz, the girl currently running with Shaw's team. She didn't think it was that important, "What's your connection to Shaw?" She keeps her tone low and menacing, hoping it's enough to intimidate him because she's usually not the one that does this kind of thing. Usually Lucy or Angel handle these parts.

She listens carefully as Braga explains how Shaw ran the entire operation and he'd just been the cover man. The entire time he's talking to Meg but staring at Angel, a sly grin on his face the entire time.

"I think we're done here." Angel says swiftly when he finishes and she turns to leave but he calls out to her.

"You know we had a nickname for you."

Angel turns to face him once more, Meg right behind her.

"When we saw what you were capable of, the work that you did for them." He stares right into her eyes, "Angel de la muerte." He tells her with a smile, watching as emotions flicker in her dark brown eyes.

The emotions flow through her veins as well, and she fights the urge to beat him to a pulp with her crutch, instead choosing to continue walking as the guards shove the man back into his cramped cell.

Meg stays behind just a moment longer, absorbing all the information she's come to learn. Braga's last few words are what float in her mind most prominently though. "The Angel of Death." She mutters the translation before turning to follow her.

* * *

Well there it is. A tiny bit of insight into Angel's past with Shaw. I'm hoping to delve more into it in the next few chapters. But i also have to get to the part where they arrive in London, and all the rest of the awesomeness that is FF6. Can't wait! As always thanks for reading, reviewing, fav'ing, and following. You're all awesome.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello everyone. Thank you as always for the lovely reviews. Sorry for not having posted anything in a while, I really am trying to work on the story but my annoying job has taken over a lot of my free time now. But i'm definitely dedicating some time this weekend to get at least one other chapter up. In the meantime i'll post this which has been sitting on my laptop for a few weeks. Up next is definitely some action and maybe Luke and Angel meeting up. Thanks for reading!

* * *

"We lost Ivory." He hears her say, "He's gone."

He continues looking at his plans, drawing out the last minute details. "Thanks." He replies without giving it much thought.

"That's it?" He can hear the aggravation in her voice.

He doesn't look up, there's still too much to be done and now he has to redo the plans to adjust for the fact that he'll have one less team member to work with. "If Ivory's dead, he made a mistake." He takes a moment to look up at her, noticing her tousled locks and slightly puffy lip. "If you make a mistake, you pay the price."

He can hear her chuckle, "That's a great eulogy Shaw. Are you gonna give that speech for the rest of us when we go out?" she says sardonically before walking away.

It's the tone of her voice that catches his ear, the sentimentality behind it strikes him as odd. He drops his pen on the table and follow her to the garage. He's not surprised to find her under the hood of her car, that' where she always seems to be.

"You're the last one I'd have pegged to be sentimental." He continues to watch her fiddle with the engine, "I like you Letty. I dare say I even feel a certain warmth towards you."

It's true. From the moment he saw her, unconscious in the hospital, he couldn't help but feel somewhat protective of her. It could be because she had looked weak, but then Braga had told him what she'd done and he realized she had an inner strength. With each passing week as he got to know her it became clearer to him why he felt this way towards her. With her strength and character, and even her long dark hair, she reminded him of Angel.

"When I saw you in the hospital," he tucks a stray curl from her face, "I said to myself that girl has a gift. She's a blank page. And that made me feel protective towards you." He watches as she stops and tightens her grip on the wrench. "If something happened to you, for instance, I think I might find that slightly harder to bear." She finally looks up at him, her dark brown eyes meeting his and for a brief second he almost feels as though he's staring into Angel's eyes. "What I'm saying is," he continues, "I would hate to see you make a mistake." They stare intently into each other's eyes, he feels nothing in terms of romance towards the girl, but he's being truthful in what he's telling her. It would be a shame to lose someone so talented.

"I'm going to get some air." She tells him as she slams down the car hood. He hears the roar of the engine come to life before she peels out of the garage. He can't help but grin slightly, she definitely reminds him of Angel. He turns on his phone and activates the tracker in her car. He knows where she'll go, to her street races as always.

No matter where they go in the world, she always seeks them out. She's good, he'll give her that. She always manages to win cars or quite a lovely sum of cash. This time though, he's hoping for an even bigger prize. "Toretto." He mutters with a grin before returning to his plans.

* * *

Meg stares at the clouds passing by her window, the silence in the cockpit seems deafening but she doesn't want to break it with idle chit chat like she usually would. She knows that Angel needs this silence right now, to wrap her mind around all that's happening and to prepare for what might happen ahead. She's known Angel for many years, and they've been friends for many of them. She'd go as far to say they're best friends really, she'd trust her with her life. She's seen Angel have her bad days, and her good days, she'd like to think she's seen every mood and emotion possible but she's quickly discovering that's not so.

She casually glances over at Angel, noticing how her hands her gripping the controls a bit tighter than usual. Her muscles are tense, as is her jaw, and her eyes are focused ahead. Her features are set in a serious manner, her dark eyes unwavering in their stare. Her breathing is slow and controlled, and suddenly Meg realizes that she's focused on her breathing, something she's seen Angel do numerous times while trying to calm herself.

"I know you're not up for talking right now, with everything going on I really do understand but I just want to know if you're okay?" Meg asks quietly and sincerely.

She notices the change in Angel's demeanor, she takes a deep breath and lets it out before turning to Meg. For a brief moment the corner of her mouth turns upwards as if she might smile, but her face remains serious. "Yeah, I'm okay Meg." Angel says with a nod, her voice sounds sincere as she says it and puts Meg somewhat at ease.

They slip into a lulled silence once more, just the low hum of the plane's engine to break the monotony. When the plane's SAT phone rings she's slightly startled by the sound, Angel answers it in seconds. They both breathe a sigh of relief when they hear Lucy's voice.

"Hey just letting you know we landed safely a little bit ago. I followed O'Connor to a warehouse in London. It seems to be their HQ for now." Lucy fills them in quickly.

"Have you seen him?" Angel asks almost nervously.

"I haven't seen Luke pull in or out of here yet. He might be inside already but I can't tell from where I'm parked at the moment. I can't get a view of the inside from where I'm at." Lucy replies.

"Do you think you can get somewhere and get a better vantage point?" Meg asks before Angel gets the chance, she knows how much it'll mean to Angel to know he's there and safe.

"Don't worry I'll think of something."

* * *

So I know it's short, a lot of my chapters lately have been under 2k words, sorry. Thank you so much to everyone who continues to read and show patience. I'm so happy with the reviews and they really do help me keep motivated to finish the story though it seems to be taking forever. I'm glad you like the twist Cara, and Alyssa Hill, thank you for that lovely review. I'm really glad people like the story. Have a wonderful evening everyone.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello everyone! Thank you as always for your reviews, and thanks to those that follow and fav too! I'm hoping this is agood chapter, it bounces around a lot between characters so i have it separated as always by lines. I hope everyone likes it. Thanks for reading!

* * *

He can feel the cool night air blow across his skin as he stares down the scope of his rifle at the scene before him. He'd finally managed to catch up to Toretto, parking his truck a few hundred yards away on the other side of the lot by an old abandoned building he had managed to climb up some old scaffolding to set up his perch. He'd monitor the situation, knowing that there was a good chance Shaw might turn up and make shit worse. He was frustrated that he'd even have to chase down Toretto, but he understood the man's despair at getting the chance to talk to Letty. He'd do the same for Angel in a heartbeat.

He can't hear a word they're saying, but he can see the look on Dom's face as he talks to her. The slight smile he has as he touches her skin and brushes her curls back, his body language as he stands so close to her. He can see the crestfallen look he gets when she steps towards her car to leave and he hands her his silver cross. He watches as she just looks at it, her face void of any emotion before she gets in and drives away leaving dust in her wake.

He feels bad for Toretto, knowing he must be feeling some intense emotions at the moment. He starts to shoulder his rifle until the sight of another car pulling in catches his attention. Not just any car, he checks through the scope on his gun again, looking closely at the car's body. "Aston Martin." He can tell by the sleek shape, one he's seen many times since Angel is a big fan of the maker. "DB9." He mumbles to himself recognizing the model.

He watches with interest as Shaw steps out the car, a slight grin on his face. He and Dom stay by their respective cars, talking calmly it seems. He's not sure what they're saying but isn't sure he should give up his spot to get a closer look. He scans around the parking lot, knowing that Shaw wouldn't be stupid enough to come out solo without having some form of backup. He scans the horizon with his rifle, not seeing anything yet.

He shifts his focus back to Shaw and Dom, noticing that Shaw is closing the gap between himself and Dom. The talk still seems calm so far, he keeps Shaw in his crosshairs just in case. Deep down he really is looking for any excuse to just pull the trigger, but he did have orders. Not only to secure the device and its pieces, but to bring Shaw in alive. He can't help but think how simple the job would be if he could just plug him full of lead right this moment so he can end this all and make it back home to Angel.

"Come on you son of a bitch." He says gruffly watching as Shaw has clearly noticed the laser sight lying on his jacket just above his heart. He watches the man laugh before he waves goodbye to Dom, walking back to his expensive car and driving off into the night.

"Riley, Shaw's leaving Battersea, heading southeast. Have Tej track him on his live feed, go." He says over his radio as he runs down the steps. "Do you know what would've happened if I didn't put that tracker in your car?" He asks as he gets closer to Dom. He watches as Dom reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling something out.

"This one." Dom holds it up for Luke to see, a sly grin on his face.

He smiles back at the man, not too surprised that Dom was always a step ahead. "You know this just got me one step closer to Shaw." He says staring down at the small electronic device in his hand, "For what it's worth Toretto, I hope it gets you closer to what you want too."

* * *

_My skills just aren't sufficiently appreciated _Lucy thinks to herself as she reaches for the small stone alcove just above her, grabbing hold and swinging her legs up to perch like a bird of prey. "Gotta start hitting the gym again." She says out loud this time as she finds herself winded after her small climb up the side of the building where she was O'Connor head into. She leans forward, dangerously close to slipping back out of her perch, _The things a person does in the name of friendship. _This is definitely a much better view than sitting in the BMW across the street. From here she can look in through the window and see a few of the people moving around. She recognizes their faces from the photos on file but can't quite remember the individual names.

She sees a nice little cache of weapons and toys sitting on the table as a young woman, tall with long dark hair plays with them. She adjusts the sights and Lucy can tell by the way she moves she knows her way around weapons. A young Asian man stands behind her watching her every movement with a moony grin on his bruised face.

A few feet away a rather handsome man sits in front of various monitors, toying around with what seems to be a harpoon gun. A taller man stands beside him eating a large bag of chips, possibly annoying the man with the computers if the look on his face is anything to go by. The roar of an engine draws her attention and she looks down at the street to see a black muscle car pulling into the first floor garage of the building she's currently on. "Toretto." She assumes because of the type of car. Sure enough the familiar sound of the Beast's engine roars closer and she smiles slightly as Luke pulls his truck into the same garage. "Lover boy's home." She calls out to Angel over the com.

"Great, let me know if he moves." Angel replies.

"Oh joy, I get to sit here for a while." Lucy responds sarcastically before settling into her perch.

* * *

Letty rubs her hands over her tired eyes, the bright fluorescent lights of the work room don't help matters. She walks over to the table, her eyes glimmering over the various pages and pictures strewn about. One in particular catches her eye. She picks up the plastic covered photo, staring at the picture as a rush of emotions course through her. They're too fast to capture, too muddled to interpret. One emotion comes to the forefront of her mind. Disappointment. She looks so happy in the photo, in the man's arms. The same man she'd just seen a few moments ago had obviously meant a great deal to her once upon a time. And she no doubt held a lot of meaning for him if their chat was any indication.

She focuses her eyes on him in the photo, willing herself to remember anything about him. It's a few moments wasted as nothing comes to mind. She finds herself running her fingers over the cross, feeling the cold touch of metal against her skin. Still no memories. Suddenly she hears the quiet foot step in the corner of the room and looks up to find Shaw staring at her.

"May I?" He holds out his hand, she runs her thumb once more over the cross before placing it in his hand. She doesn't look at him, instead choosing to stare straight ahead instead. There are too many thoughts racing through her head.

"I'm going to ask you a question, Letty," he pauses looking up from the necklace, into her dark eyes. "and I want you to think very hard before you answer. When I give you the order to take Toretto out, what will your first thought be?" He watches as the fury builds behind her dark eyes, somewhat relieved that she finds his question indignant.

"Why don't you look me in the eye and you tell me what you see." She replies bitterly. He holds out his hand, cross in his palm. "Keep it." She says before brushing past him. He smiles slightly at her response, happy to know that she is with him, before tossing the chain back onto the table before following her out.

* * *

"Tej talk to me, what've we got?" Luke says as he stares at the large monitor, hoping that there's good news on Shaw's whereabouts.

"We were able to track Shaw after he left you and Dom, but this guy's smart, so we could only track him so far." Tej says as he stands in front of the monitor beside him. "He seems to know all the city's blind spots. See, we lost him somewhere in here," Tej says zooming in on the location from a birds' eye view "which means he can be anywhere within that half mile radius." Tej says with a shake of his head. "So maybe if we cross reference phone records, leases…"

"No." Riley interjects, "This has got Shaw's name written all over it." She says pointing to a spot on the map. Luke watches closely as she explains. "We've got vantage points, multiple exits, subways, highways and storm drains."

"Bad ass and brains." Luke says with a smile, "Woman, you keep that up and I'm gonna be out of a job." He says with a nod of approval in Riley's direction. She's a damned good agent and he's glad to have her on his team, but in the back of his mind he can't help but think that if he'd had Angel with him they probably would've gotten this done a lot quicker. He smiles slightly at the thought. "Let's go nail this son ofa bitch."

* * *

"Umm….Angel you getting close yet?" Lucy asks anxiously wiggling her foot as it's fallen asleep. She groans in discomfort as she feels pins and needles in her muscles as she tries moving them. She's been perched up here for a bit now and it's not fun.

"I've made a slight detour, Meg should be getting their shortly though."

Lucy mutters out a few choice curse words before responding, "Well Loverboy is leaving now with the stupid little trollip."

"Wait who?"

Lucy chuckles at Angel's quick response. "Relax, it's just some stupid young agent who's working with him."

"What's her name?"

"The hell if I know." Lucy replies as she begins the slow climb down.

"I'll just find out later then." Angel mutters.

"You can't kill a fellow agent Angel just cause she's working with your boyfriend." Lucy says still chuckling.

"You underestimate me."

"Yeah I know, now let me concentrate before you end up having to run me to a hospital." Lucy says before disconnecting her com.

Angel shakes her head as she drives the rest of the way in silence. The streets are slowly brightening with dawn's light and she grows slightly anxious at the thought of getting closer to Shaw's location. It had taken her the majority of the flight from California to London to narrow down a search perimeter. Knowing Shaw the way she does helped immensely, and the few details she was able to gather from the past few days activities helped too. She'd already checked out 3 possible locations since landing and was on her way to the last possible hideout. If she could manage to find Shaw before he does anything else she might be able to save some lives. One life in particular of course holds more importance to her.

It had taken all her willpower not to drive straight to Luke's location when she'd landed. All she had wanted to do was lay eyes on him and be sure he was alright, and she had the incredible urge to wrap her arms around him and not let go for a while at least. She knew of course that it wouldn't help matters. No, her best course of action was to find Shaw before shit could get any worse.

She looks down at the GPS monitor on the dash of her car, happy to see she's within a mile of the supposed location. She parks the car behind a building and leaves her crutch behind. With enough determination and pain killers she can walk on it without too much of a limp, though she knows it's definitely going to set back her healing time if she keeps it up. She makes her way towards the large brick wall surrounding the last warehouse on her list. There were a few other buildings on the inside of the wall, but only one in particular warranted her attention.

She notices the various steel gates, all shut tight and locked. She looks up at the height of the wall, easily over 8 feet tall. Normally that'd be a piece of cake, but with her leg in its current state climbing it is definitely out of the question. She looks a little further down the wall, more steel gates, all shut. "Fuck." She sighs as she walks around to the other side. After a few moments of searching she finally finds her entry point. One of the steel gates isn't shut entirely on this side, and using a little elbow grease she manages to wedge it open just enough for her to slide under to the other side. She stands quickly, glancing around to be sure she wasn't noticed. She dusts off her jeans and jacket before removing her Python from its holster. She checks to be sure it's loaded then pulls out her secondary weapon, the Glock, being sure that it's magazine is fully loaded and putting one in the chamber just in case. She puts the safety back on it and holsters it to the inside of her jacket. She keeps the Python in hand as she makes her way quietly and stealthily towards the building using the various abandoned old vehicles as cover.

She hears nothing except the chirp of a few birds flying overhead. No tools banging around, or voices echoing, no car engines. She keeps moving, finally making her way to the building. She notices the garage doors and opts to keep looking for a less conspicuous entrance. After searching she finds a small side door and manages to pick the lock quickly and quietly. She enters the warehouse and lets out a sigh of frustration. It's empty just like the others. She keeps her gun at the ready, aimed out in front of her as she clears the building room by room. After being satisfied that no one else is present she begins searching for any signs that Shaw could've been here. She does see that for an old abandoned warehouse it's quite clean. In the garage bay she can see fresh pools of oil and other fluids. She bends down slowly and carefully, taking a closer look at the fluids.

She can smell the gas fumes, oil, antifreeze and paint, no doubt a car aficionado was here. "Shaw." She curses silently to herself, angry that she's missed him. The silence suddenly breaks with the sound of a door slamming, followed by heavy footsteps. She moves quickly despite her injury, crouching low and moving swiftly against the wall behind cover of crates as she makes her way to the sound. She's not sure if it's Shaw or anyone else.

"_Angel where the hell are you?" _She hears Lucy call out over the com.

She doesn't reply, knowing that she has the element of surprise on her side she won't give it up by responding to Lucy.

"_Angel come in, do you copy?" _

The sound of panic in Lucy's voice makes her feel guilty but she pushes forward silently. She can see from the edge of the doorway that the door she entered through is now wide open. She notices upon further inspection that it's also cracked by the door knob, no doubt from being forced open since she locked it when she had come in. She turns right and sees the room in front of her is empty but notices some boot prints, courtesy of some puddles by the door. She had avoided them when she walked in, but clearly someone had missed them. She follows the relatively small boot prints towards the other side of the room and catches a glimpse of some movement.

A woman, about her same height, brown hair in a bun, brown tactical vest and a gun in her hand as she clears the room in front of her. She prepares herself to move swiftly and quietly behind her, but the sound of a gun cocking behind her gives her pause. She moves in a flash, pivoting on her good leg turning her head towards the person behind her and swinging her arm out above her to push the arm and gun away from her head while bringing up her gun towards the unknown assailants head. She ends up with her gun pointing at the head, a gun's barrel pressed up against her ribs and a strong hand gripping her wrist before she finally realizes who she's fighting.

"Luke?"

"Angel?"

They both gasp.

* * *

Well? This one took me a while, there was so much to write cause i'm trying to get towards the end of FF6 where all the action is but at the same time not trying to rush through everything all half assed. Was it ok? I sure hope so. Thanks for reading as always! Reviews are oh so appreciated...


	15. Chapter 15

A short chapter but it's been so long since i've updated I decided to post something. Thanks for reading.

* * *

Riley had her gun trained on Angel the moment she heard the scuffle between her and Hobbs. She'd recognized the woman instantly, and her trigger finger had never been more enthusiastic to go to work. Just a small slip she thought, a small squeeze is all it would've taken to eliminate the thorn in her side.

Then Owen's words come to the forefront of her mind, she's not to be injured in any way. He'd gone through great lengths to ensure she'd be safe and miles away from anything he was presently doing. She couldn't wait to tell him just how horribly his plan had failed.

She really wanted to pump some lead into her, but realized that most of her rage stemmed from jealousy and she stomped the urges down. It wouldn't do well for her to go trigger happy, not when she knows that Hobbs would reciprocate by filling her with holes too. Not to mention the fact that she'd blow her cover. "You okay Hobbs?" she asked when she saw that they just stood and stared at each other for a few seconds. She lowered her gun but didn't holster it, keeping the safety off and her finger on the trigger just in case.

He didn't voice a reply, instead he pulled the woman into a tight embrace. The woman wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his shoulders, his arms wrapped around her waist as he held her close and kissed her passionately.

"Alrighty then." She mumbled quietly to herself as she turned away from the sight. On the bright side, a bit of the jealousy she's been feeling these past few days is slowly dying down now that she knows that this woman clearly has no interest in Owen. She wondered if Owen knew about her new love interest.

She listened closely as she heard them pull away. Luke immediately asked her if she was alright, the woman does her best to sooth him into believing she's fine. They talk in hushed tones and it's too quiet to really hear what they're saying so she gave up and decided to interrupt their little reunion.

"There's nothing here Hobbs, we should head back." She said as she walked past them both, straight towards the door hoping that they'd follow.

"I didn't get to check the last room on the left yet." The woman called out after her, she turns around to face them both. "Have either of you checked it yet?"

Riley clenched her jaw tightly in irritation, "No I don't think we did." She answered as she took a step towards it. Luke moved quickly before her, leading the way into the room and before she can fall in behind him Angel cuts her off. She followed them into the room, fighting the urge to lift her gun and aim it at Angel's head. "There's nothing here." She repeated, the irritation clear in her voice. Angel doesn't even turn to acknowledge her, she watched on as Luke pulls out a flash light shining it at a spot on the ground.

"There's never nothing." He replied with a slight grin before bending down with his knife and an evidence bag. He scratched at the concrete floor, pulling up some residue and tucking into the bag. "There's always something." He said looking up to Angel.

Riley rolled her eyes as she turned away from them, it's like she's not even here at this point as they talk to each other about their findings. She decided that now would be a good time to separate from Hobbs, if only for a moment to warn Shaw. "We should head back and take this to the team."

"You've got someone with the capabilities to process this?" Angel asked, looking only at Hobbs, not even acknowledging Riley's presence.

"I've got a great team." He replied with a smile.

_I'm gonna throw up._ Riley thought to herself, she's grown tired of the couple in just the few moments worth of interaction she's seen between them. "Should I go start the truck?" Riley asked hoping to incite a reaction from Angel.

It's the first direct look she's gotten from her, and if looks could kill she'd be a pile of ashes on this cold hard ground. Angel doesn't even have to speak to make her sentiments known to her, she hates her guts. Riley sends her back a look to let her know that the feeling is mutual. Luke of course seemed oblivious to it all.

"How'd you get here?" Luke asked turning to Angel.

"I drove a car." She replied without going into any more details, she turned and walked out into the court yard. Luke uses his brute force to open one of the gates and they find themselves face to face with a beautiful Jaguar, sleek and shining in the midday sun.

Luke turned with a grin toward Angel, "One of your toys?"

Angel grinned back with a nod.

"You know I can't fit in these tiny cars." Luke added with a slight frown.

"So we'll take the truck back and she can follow us." Riley added trying to hide her grin as she watched with enthusiasm as Angel's features showed her clear hatred of the idea.

Luke looked at Angel, then back at Riley. He could see the look on Angel's face and knew she wasn't happy with Riley's suggestion. "Or you can drive her car back and Angel can come with me." He looked back at Angel to see if she was in agreement. The look on her face hadn't changed, a very clear expression of "It ain't gonna happen" written all over her features.

"How about Agent Hicks rides back with me. This way if we get separated through the city she can still tell me how to get back to your base?" Angel suggested with her best poker face.

"Sounds good." Luke nodded hesitantly. Riley walks towards the passenger side of the Jaguar, holstering her gun as she went. Luke stepped closer to Angel, holding her hand gently in his before giving it a light kiss. "Be careful, and please behave." He added with a sly smile.

"I won't kill her if that's what you're worried about." Angel replied sincerely.

Luke kissed her lips briefly before walking back towards his truck and starting the engine. Angel turned to find Agent Hicks trying to open the door to her car. She walked over to the driver's side, unlocking the doors before stepping inside. She waits for the woman to sit down before starting the engine.

"Nice car." Riley said while thinking how Owen would love it.

"Thanks, it was a gift." Angel replied before pulling away, falling behind Luke's truck.

They drove for the next two miles in silence, no radio, no talking. Nothing but the sound of the world outside their car, and their breathing. Riley found it practically unbearable, and knew that they still had several more miles to go. "So you and Hobbs huh?" She said deciding to break the silence.

Angel doesn't grace her with a reply. Instead she just keeps driving, her eyes focused dead ahead and her hands tight on the wheel.

Riley turned to look out the window to hide her smile, she enjoyed getting under her skin. "He's a great guy, and a really great agent."

_Cannot kill her. You cannot kill her._ Angel thought silently. She wanted to reach over and smash her face into the dash board, but then suddenly remembered how much she loved this car and she wouldn't want to have to wash blood out of it. Not again anyway, last time had taken far too long to get it out.

"Yeah I know he's great at his job." Angel replied quietly, deciding that if she talked to the woman for a moment or two maybe she'd shut up for the rest of the drive.

"I mean I can understand why you'd be jealous."

The screech of the car's breaks can be heard loud and clear as Angel pulls a hard stop at a red light. Riley hits the dash board hard with her body and head. Her comment about jealousy had caught Angel completely off guard, and though it wasn't Angel's intention to do so, it did make her feel better to see her in pain. Riley shot her a glare before sitting back in the seat. "You should probably put your seatbelt on." Angel told her smugly.

"There's no need to be jealous." Riley added while she strapped herself into the seat.

Angel laughed for a moment, shaking her head before looking over at Riley. "I'm not jealous, I'm territorial."

"And what's the difference?" Riley asked as she rolled her eyes again.

"Jealousy is when you want something that's not yours, territorial is protecting what's already mine."

* * *

Well? I hope it wasn't too bad. Thank you again for reading, and thanks to those that fav and follow. And special thanks to those that review cause it always means alot to read what you have to say.


	16. Chapter 16

Hello everyone! It's been a bit since I've posted something, sorry just been busy with work. I hope you like this next chapter, its a bit longer than what I've been posting these past few times. Thanks to those that have continued reading, fav'ing, following and reviewing. It means a lot. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Halfway to the base the plans had changed, instead of meeting Luke's team at the warehouse they would meet up with them in Spain. Luke had called her to her cell to notify her and so their course had changed and she ended up spending an extra few minutes with Riley in the car than she would've liked. Thankfully the young agent had kept her mouth shut after her jealousy remark. When they pulled up to the airfield she's thankful to find that Meg was there with the plane ready and engines roaring, Lucy would stay behind and fly the other plane with Luke's team when they were ready.

Luke is relieved when he sees the Jaguar pull up behind him onto the tarmac. Riley stepped out, seemingly unscathed though he could tell by the look on her face it hadn't been a pleasant ride. He glanced over at Angel as she stepped out the car. She shrugged her shoulders innocently before smiling.

"Hey big guy." Meg called out from the door of the plane, waving at him as they came closer. Meg shouted some orders to the crew on the ground and the men immediately began loading up the cargo bay in the enormous plane, shifting pieces around to try and fit Luke's behemoth and Angel's Jag among a few other toys Angel had packed.

"I've decided to take a few of my toys home with me when we're done with this." Angel explained as Luke took stock of the various expensive vehicles on board.

"Honey I hate to break it to you but our garage isn't big enough for all of this." He said with a smile.

"So they'll stay parked in one of my hangars." She replied with a shrug. She left him there with Agent Riley as she went to the cockpit to help Meg with a few last minute flight plan details. The working men finished loading everything and came on board with their clipboard for Angel to sign. She signed it and handed them each a nice stack of bills as a tip before watching them head back into the old hangar.

"All systems are good to go." Meg called back to her, normally she'd be up there helping Meg pilot the plane but she was exhausted and after some convincing Meg got her to agree to staying in the back of the plane and enjoying the flight. As much as it can be enjoyed when she had Agent Hicks sitting just ten feet away. She kept imagining the emergency hatch by her chair just mysteriously flying open and sucking the young woman out into the night sky. It brought a grin to her face, a grin that didn't go unnoticed by Luke.

"You okay?" He asked.

She nodded slowly before turning to face the window. The cabin was quiet, almost too quiet, neither of them spoke to each other since they weren't really alone and they didn't want Agent Hicks to hear what they had to say.

Luke looked over at Agent Hicks, she had her back to them and was messing around with her cell phone. He looked to his side, at Angel as she sat quietly with her hands in her lap. He could still see the bruises on her knuckles from her trip to Moscow. His eyes travelled down her body to her legs, she had her left one propped up on the seat in front of her and he knew she must be feeling some of the pain from her injuries but she'd be too stubborn to admit it. He looked back up at her face, a soft curl came undone from her ponytail and hung by her eyes. He moved to tuck it behind her ear, and noticed the bruising around her throat and collarbone from the accident. The sight of it stirred up some memories. Memories of what he'd seen when he walked into the hospital in Moscow, memories of what he'd said to her when they'd gotten home that day.

Before he could say anything she spoke, "So when we get to Spain are we heading straight to the NATO base or are we waiting for your team at the airstrip?" She decided to keep their conversation strictly business while on this flight. She was tired and didn't want to say anything emotional, especially not with Riley so close by.

"Well I was thinking that you could stay in the plane with Meg and I would…" He doesn't finish because mid-sentence she turned to look at him. Her face was serious, her dark eyes dead set on his own as she sat staring at him for a few moments, mouth slightly agape.

She couldn't believe that after everything he'd still try and leave her behind somewhere 'safe' while he took the risks. "Are we really going to do this?" She asked quietly before standing up and walking slowly towards the cargo doors, slamming them tightly shut behind her.

He took another look towards Riley, she was still preoccupied with her phone. He stood up and went after Angel. He shut the cargo doors behind him, feeling the cold air of the cargo hold on his skin he looked around the enormous space for Angel. There were several cars parked in the space, including his large tank like truck, but after a few moments he found her sitting on the hood of her Jaguar. He wasn't sure what he should say, or if he should even speak at the moment because of the look she had on her face. She was pissed, and he knew he shouldn't be trying to sideline her still. Not after all she's done to get here, but the thought of her going up against this team and Shaw left him worried and he couldn't bear the thought of something else happening to her.

"Angel I just think it would be best if you waited with the plane when we got to Spain." He heard her take a deep breath, not sure if she was prepping to scream at him or trying to calm herself down. He figured it was the latter when a few seconds went by and she still sat perfectly still and quiet on the hood of the car. "You don't know exactly what we're up against and I don't want you to get injured again." The other team might not be so considerate this time, he thought to himself.

"You're wrong there Luke." She was incredibly angry, he could tell by the sound of her voice. She wasn't shouting, it was calm, eerily so. Her eyes locked on his, seemed darker than usual. Her lips set in a stern line, no hint of a smile for him.

"You don't know the kind of man Shaw is, what he's capable of." Luke had read the man's files, he's sure that Angel must've read some too if she's come this far on the job. The man was the devil on wheels, capable of everything and willing to do anything to get what he needed. He couldn't risk him coming across Angel.

"I know Owen Shaw better than you or anyone on your team." She said cutting him off.

Her statement caught him off guard and he stepped closer to her. She still didn't move from her spot on the hood of the car, her arms folded across her chest. "You read his files?" Luke asked, stepping even closer when she doesn't answer his question.

"What did David give you Luke?" She asked, irritation clear in her voice as she mentions her mentor's name. "A few files on the man and his past?" Her eyes focused on his still as she spoke, "Some details on a few of the jobs they know he's orchestrated?" She watched for a reaction, his face is stone though and doesn't show what he's thinking. He stayed quiet, letting her finish. "What about all the other jobs? All the other bodies he's put under ground? Huh? Did David tell you about those?" Her emotions came through a little bit as she continued, her voice cracking slightly. "Did he tell you how he got started? The people he worked with or all that he did before he popped up on your radar?" _Did he show you my files?_ She almost added but stopped while he replied.

"I saw enough to know that he's not the type of man that comes down easily. He picks only the best for his crew and replaces them like spare parts when needed. He kills without remorse and thinks of nothing but his own gain. He'd kill you in an instant if he needed to or just for fun to get to me." That was one of his worst fears. Shaw already knew that Luke was gunning for him to put him in a cell for the rest of his miserable life, he knew that the man would put up one hell of a fight and use whatever leverage he could. That meant someone he loved, and the only person he had in his life was Angel. He'd be damned if he let her get too involved in this.

The sound of her chuckling caught him off guard and he watched curiously as she shook her head at him. "Men are truly blind sometimes." She muttered, more to herself than to him. She looked back up at his eyes, "I know who Owen is," her tone is serious and Luke doesn't miss the fact that she called Shaw only by his first name. "I know how he operates. I know how he kills and his thought process behind what he does. I know that he only accepts the best and brightest talents for his crew, and I know he's more than happy to replace them when it serves his purpose. I know that he loves earning money, but even more than that he loves the challenge of taking on a seemingly impossible task just like this one." She watched him closely as the look on his face changed slowly. Realization finally dawning on him.

"How do you know him?" He asked hesitantly, almost afraid of her response.

She let out a sigh before replying, "I was his partner."

* * *

Riley checked behind her once more, it'd been approximately 5 minutes since they'd left her in the cabin alone. The cockpit door was shut tight, she anxiously waited a few moments more before feeling confident enough in her solitude to make the call. She dialed Owen's number, shifting nervously in her chair as it continued to ring. Just when she'd thought it'd go to voicemail he finally answered.

"What's wrong?" He immediately asked.

"They know you're in Spain and they're coming." She said very quietly, glancing around the cabin to be sure she was still alone. Eyeing the doors nervously hoping that no one would enter while she spoke with him. "Toretto and the rest of his crew are packing their gear and will be on their way within the next hour, Hobbs and I are already on a plane heading to the NATO base."

"How much do they know?" He asked, cutting her off.

"Everything I think." She replied waiting to see what his reaction would be.

"Let me know the moment you land, we're still moving forward with this plan but we'll switch it to plan B then and hit it while it's in transit instead of taking it at the base."

She was slightly relieved, though she should've known Owen would've had a contingency plan. He always did. "Oh and there's been an unexpected development." She added quickly.

"And that would be?"

"Angelique is on board the plane with us, she caught up and knows that you're involved." She waited patiently to see what he'd say.

After a few seconds of silence he replied, "Don't touch a hair on her head. Do you understand me Riley?" The tone with which he speaks sends a chill down her spine.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

Angel's concerned now, a few moments have gone by and Luke did nothing but stare at her almost as if in shock. She could understand his surprise at her admission, she really wished this could've been a conversation had at a different time. Possibly at home in a more relaxed setting but this needed to be aired out now before they landed. He needed to know that she could hold her own against Owen, not just because she was a damned good agent, but because once she'd been his equal.

"Luke?" She called his name to see if he'd respond. She saw him open and close his mouth, as if he were chewing over what he'd say. His jaw tensed up, and she could see the muscles in his neck tense as well. He turned away from her for a moment, shaking his head then turning back to look at her.

"You were his partner?" He asked, his voice low and serious. She didn't really appreciate the accusatory tone but forgave it given the circumstances. She nodded her head. "Just his partner? Or were you…." He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. The thought of her having had a relationship with Shaw bothered him more than the idea of her working with him.

"There was never anything romantic between Owen and myself." She could see the corner of his eye flinch when she used his first name. "But we did work together for many years, we were partners and a lot of what you'd read in those files, well I was present for a lot of it." Hell, she wasn't just present but an active participant. She stared down at the floor, finding it hard to look into his eyes as she thought back on all the countless people she'd killed. All the lives she'd ruined while she'd been working with Owen.

"When did you," his mind is busy processing so much new information that he can't quite find the words he'd like to use. It takes him a few moments to gather his thoughts to form a coherent sentence. "When did you stop?"

"Ten years ago." She confessed. It felt like an eternity most days, but sometimes at night the memories of what she'd done would haunt her still. "I walked away from it all ten years ago and I never looked back."

He was slightly relieved to hear that she'd walked away and not that Shaw had her replaced. It meant that she'd realized what she'd been doing was wrong and had decided to turn over a new leaf. Then it finally dawns on him, Angel had run a crew with Shaw. She hadn't been an underling, she'd been his equal. The man didn't work with just anyone, let alone trust someone but Angel had been there with him for years apparently. He knows that he underestimated her from the beginning, always thinking she'd needed protecting from everything around her. Never realizing that she possibly could've dealt with far worse before he'd ever shown up. Sure she was injured now, but despite her injuries she'd managed to make it as far as he did on this mission and with less time too.

He let out a sigh, contemplating his thoughts and emotions a bit more before deciding to speak again. She was still staring at the floor he noticed, so he stepped closer and reached for her hand. He held it gently, waiting for her to look up at him. When she didn't he decided to speak. "I'm sorry." He said softly, an apology long in the making. "I'm so sorry for acting the way I did that night, and again today. I'm sorry for being a chauvinistic ass sometimes and for thinking that you need me to fight your battles and keep you locked in a protective bubble." He paused as she looked up at him, noticing that her dark brown eyes have softened slightly and seem as though she might tear up at any moment. He felt a slight pang in his heart at the sight, but continued. "I know that you can stand up for yourself, you're one hell of a fighter." He added with a smile, thinking back on the times that he's sparred with her and seen her in action. "You're an incredible strategist, and a gifted marksmen but you're also human. You get hurt, bruised, and you can bleed just like anybody else. And every time I'm reminded of that I get a little more frightened because I remember that regardless of how incredible you are I could still lose you."

She tried her best to blink the tears welling in her eyes away, but one managed to slip by. He brushed it away with his thumb, holding her face gently in his hand. "I know how you feel Luke. It's the same way I feel every time you tell me goodbye and go out on a job. It's the same way I feel every time I watch you take off your shirt and see a fresh batch of bruises forming on your skin." Another tear slipped out, followed by a few more as she continued quietly. "It's the same way I felt when I saw you in Brazil." She tried her best to keep her composure, she didn't want to bawl her eyes out no matter how shitty she felt at the current moment. It became nearly impossible to keep it together though when Luke took her into his arms, holding her tightly against him.

He took her place on the hood of the Jag, ignoring the groan of the metal under his and her combined weight as he held her tightly against him, running a hand down her back soothingly. She sat in his lap, head buried against his shoulder as he felt a few tears land on his shirt. His own eyes grew slightly watery but he held back. "I love you." He whispered in her ear as she slowly regained her composure.

"I love you, and I'm sorry for what I said the other day too." She said looking up at him. She realized how ridiculous she must look, hurt and crying like a child. Crying showed weakness and she'd always been so set against it, she wiped her eyes and the remaining moisture from her cheeks. Taking a deep breath through her nose which was suddenly quite stuffy. "I guess we're both worried about our crazy jobs, about the possibility of losing one another."

"I can't promise I'll stop worrying about you, I don't think that'd ever be possible." He said calmly.

"I wouldn't want you to, just stop treating me like I'm incapable of handling myself and i'll do the same for you." She replied looking into his eyes. He smiled back at her.

"I promise."

He watched as her cheeks blushed slightly, no doubt embarrassed that she'd cried in his arms. Her eyes were slightly puffy and red from her tears and rubbing them fiercely, her cheeks still wet and pink. He brushed his lips against hers, a soft kiss designed to further soothe her. "You're beautiful." He said when he pulled away.

"I think you need your eyes checked." She said sniffling. She didn't move from her spot on his lap, his arms still wrapped around her, her arms around his shoulders.

"I'm glad we had this talk." He said after a few moments of silence go by.

"Me too." It was a necessary evil, and now that it's done she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"We need to talk about what we're gonna do when we run into Shaw." He had a plan set out for the man's capture, but so far the man was making it nearly impossible to follow the plans he'd laid out.

"With my brains and your brawn I'm sure we'll come up with something." She joked.

"With you by my side I'm sure we will." He smiled before kissing her again.

* * *

So what do you think? I tried to make it longer, tried to have them hash out their previous argument. I hope i didn't botch it too much. Anyway, thanks for reading as always it's appreciated. Need a little bit of input for the next chapter though. Should i dive into the action of the rest of the movie...or I was thinking of putting in a filler chapter. Not just any filler chapter but a smut filled filler? Idk which route to take so any input is welcome.


	17. Chapter 17

Good evening everyone. Such lovely reviews, thank you so much. They're always such fun to read. And it's lovely to see so many readers favoring and following the story. Just a short chapter while we move into the action packed parts. Can't wait, already started typing them. Hoping to post something more this weekend. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

They reached Lusitania in the early morning hours and quickly loaded some weapons and gear into Luke's truck before heading out to the NATO base. Luke had called ahead to the base to warn them of the impending shit storm and when they arrived they were glad to find that the commander had taken their warning to heart.

Security was tight, with several snipers posted along the walls and in the watch towers, and numerous two man teams patrolling the outside perimeters with their hounds. Once they passed the wall and the stringent security check, they saw more teams of men with weapons at the ready waiting for any sign of disturbance.

It looked to be a pretty damn well protected fortress, so why did she still feel so uneasy? _He can still make this happen._ She thought to herself as she stepped out of the truck, Meg followed her as she made her way around the truck to the driver's side. She leaned against the door, watching everything around her closely. Agent Riley had long since disappeared inside the buildings with a few of the other soldiers, she didn't really care and hoped that the agent would stay out of her way for the remainder of the operation. She could see Luke in the distance walking down the road with one of the commanders, talking and pointing at everything around them.

"What are you thinking?" Meg asked.

Angel let out a frustrated sigh, "I'm thinking that Owen's not going to let this go. He's going to keep trying and if his first plan fails he'll have a contingency plan."

"Well I'm sure Hulk over there has a back-up plan too." Meg said nodding towards Luke.

"Yeah I'm sure he does, but Luke always has several back-up plans and he always has this annoying way of completely fucking up any plans you may have set." Angel replied. She knew from experience how Owen worked and planned. The man had a gift for anticipating the moves of his enemies, he was always more than one step ahead of the game and it made it hard to plan ahead of him.

She felt as though she were playing chess with a grand master, trying to stay ahead of his moves and outthink him. She was never much good at chess though and if she lost at this a lot of lives could be at stake. Including the people she loved. Something was bothering her, a gut instinct telling her something wasn't quite right.

"Here comes Barbie." Meg said pointing at Riley.

Angel noticed she was escorting a soldier towards Luke with two armed guards behind her. As she and Meg got closer they realized the soldier she was pushing had his hands secured behind his back. "What happened?"

Riley stared straight at Hobbs, seemingly ignoring Angel's presence as she explained to him. "Hobbs I just found this one disabling the perimeter security system."

Angel recognized the soldier's face from the files she had on Owen as one of his possible associates. Though she couldn't quite remember his name she remembered a few details from his file. He was deadly, intelligent, and a damned good sniper. Owen wouldn't have hired him if he wasn't one of the best, and the best don't get caught doing something as stupid as disabling a security system.

"Your house has been compromised." She heard Luke tell the commander.

"What are you suggesting?" The commander asked, she could hear the irritation in his voice.

"I ain't suggesting." Luke replied quickly shutting down the possibility of an argument from the commander. "We follow protocol and move the component out. Shaw thinks it's here. We're going to get it out of here before he comes."

She watched silently as Luke barks his orders to the commander, the man doesn't look happy being told what to do by a total stranger but he doesn't argue. Agent Riley simply nods her head and escorts their prisoner back to the base. She watched as the commander relayed Luke's orders to his men and marched off. Meg could tell by the look on Angel's face she needed to speak with Luke so she decided to make her way into the base and see what she could do to help with preparations leaving them to have a moment alone.

"What do you think?" Luke asked as they walked slowly back towards the truck. He offered her his arm when he saw she was limping a bit more than before, no doubt tired and achy after a rough 24 hours.

She wrapped her arm around his, leaning her weight against him as she walked carefully. Her ankle was starting to hurt a bit more after being on it for so long, but she couldn't focus on that now. "I think that we've got our work cut out for us, and I sincerely hope that everyone will be up to the task." She added, thinking about the team which she has yet to meet face to face with. They're not trained professionals and she worries if they can be trusted, or if they could even pull through against Owen and his chosen few.

"My team can come through, trust me." He assured her.

* * *

The base was quiet while on high alert. Soldiers all at their posts, the commander locked away in his quarters with his sergeants as she, Luke, Riley and Meg were left to their own devices in the small guest living quarter's two stories below ground.

Luke's team would be landing soon, she'd just spoken with Lucy and the plane was only 45 minutes away from the airport. Luke was still looking over some schematics of the facility and of the tank which would transport the component. She'd told Meg to grab some food and sleep while they waited for their next move, and she had no idea where Agent Riley had run off to again but she didn't really care either.

"You okay?" Luke asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"I'm fine." The aches and pains she'd felt earlier were finally dulling thanks to a few ibuprofen she'd managed to scrounge up from the med bay of the facility. That's not what was bothering her at the moment. What bothered her was a nagging, persistent feeling in the pit of her stomach that there was something else she was missing. She kept telling herself that the base was secure, she'd checked the same schematics that Luke was glaring at now. She'd driven around the perimeter herself and seen the number of soldiers guarding it.

The transport they'd set up for the component was just as secured. She'd checked it out with Luke when he'd first suggested they follow the protocol which had been put in place for the device. She was racking her brain trying to come up with a way to steal the component, just as Owen would to see if there was a way around the security measures that they were all taking. Nothing jumped to mind but where there's a will there's a way and if anyone had an iron will it was Owen Shaw.

"I'm gonna call Dom and let him know there's been a change in plan." Luke told her as he reached for his cell phone. He had yet to tell the team that they were going to be transporting the component out. He wasn't sure what it would mean for Toretto since his whole reason for coming and participating was to try and get Letty out of Shaw's grasp.

He put the phone on speaker and Angel watched closely as the phone rang a few times before someone answered. "What's up Samoan Thor?"

Luke chuckled at the sound of Tej's greeting, then looked at Angel. She arched her brow before smiling and shaking her head. She'd have to be sure to mention that one to Lucy since she loved calling Luke all sorts of nicknames. "Tej there's been a change of plan."

She listened intently as Luke explained the recent developments and how it would change their original plan. As he spoke with the man he mentioned how they'd managed to capture one of Shaw's men, and it's as if the piece she'd been overlooking finally clicked in her mind. "It's not right." She muttered quietly to herself more than anything.

Luke and whoever was on the other side of the phone heard though. "Who's that?" Luke could hear Dom's ask.

"Guys this is Agent Angelique Sanclair." He kept the introduction short, mainly because he wanted to know why Angel suddenly look so irritated.

"Something's not right." He could hear Brian add in the background. There was some indistinct chatter, he could barely make out Brian's voice but before he could ask for details Angel spoke.

"He wanted us to find him."

As the team continued talking he focused on Angel, "What do you mean?"

"You only get close to Shaw if he wants you to." It seemed as though the team was reaching the same conclusion as he heard them echo her thoughts just moments later.

"Shaw ain't hittin the base." He could hear Dom clearly now.

"He's hitting the convoy." Angel added as she looked up at Luke worryingly.

* * *

"What's the plan then?" Meg asked as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. She'd only managed to get an hour's sleep before Angel woke her up suddenly.

Angel patted her on the shoulder and handed her a cup of coffee. "Luke's team landed approximately a half an hour ago, they're gonna start setting up along the route of the convoy," she looked over the maps in front of them. "here and here." She pointed the spots out to Meg.

"The plan is for them to try and intercept Shaw and his men, hopefully capturing him and rescuing the component so that it can be brought to the next safe house which is here." He pointed the military base out on the map.

Meg gulped down her coffee, "And we're going to do what while this happens?"

"You and I are going to stay behind and watch the base while Agent Riley and Luke take a chopper to the next safe house to wait for Toretto and his team there." Angel replied calmly.

Meg glanced between Luke and Angel, somewhat shocked that Angel is more or less sitting this out. "Okay." She said hesitantly before finishing the rest of her coffee.

Meg stepped out of the room, Agent Riley close behind her, giving the couple a few moments to themselves. She watched as Agent Riley secured her vest and checked her weapons. After a few minutes Luke came out and walked towards her. "Make sure she stays safe." He asked quietly.

_What possible trouble could we get into on a NATO base?_ She thought to herself, "No problem big guy." She said with a nod.

"Thank you." He said before running out the doors to the awaiting chopper, Agent Riley close in tow. As the doors shut she walked back into the small room with Angel.

"So what should we do while we wait?" Meg asked, still surprised that they were staying behind. She took a bite out of a honey bun she'd bought from the nearby vending machine and almost choked on it when Angel looked up at her with a grin. She knew that grin well. "Oh no." She said shaking her head, "What did you do?"

"Don't look so worried." Angel replied, still grinning as she walked out of the room.

Meg debated for a moment whether or not she'd follow, but finally gave into her curiosity, quickly running after Angel. They were going in the opposite direction of where Luke had run to. "Where are we going?" Meg asked, wondering if she really wanted to know the answer.

"To get some fresh air." Angel said innocently, but there was still a trace of grin in her reply. The grin she'd come to know and fear because it usually meant she was about to do something against the rules. When they finally reach their destination they're greeted by quite a sight and she watches as Angel's grin becomes a full blown smile of happiness.

They're now standing face to face with a Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian Helicopter. "What the fuck." Meg mumbled to herself. "This wasn't here when we arrived."

"Of course not, you think this base could afford one of these babies?" Angel replied as she stepped towards it.

"And just how did you get it here?" Meg started to ask, just as the pilot's door flung open.

Lucy jumped down, grinning wildly. "Hop on bitches, we're going hunting!"

* * *

So now the girls are back together, and with a pretty bad ass chopper. So excited! Hope you enjoyed it even though it was super short. Will post soon. Thanks for reading, favoring, following and reviewing as always. Good night.


	18. Chapter 18

The word carnage suddenly comes to mind as they see a small overpass reduced to rubble. What little was left of any vehicles burned brightly releasing plumes of black smoke into the sky.

"I think it's safe to say the party has officially started." Lucy called out as she pushed the controls harder, gaining momentum as they rushed to catch up to the convoy. They fly low for the next two miles, taking in the damage and destruction.

"Meg radio for a clean-up crew, and let them know we need med support on the scene too." Angel said as she watched the people scrambling from the chaos.

"Hey look at that." Lucy pointed towards the road at a jeep swerving crazily through the lanes of traffic.

Angel peered through the scope on her rifle to get a better look. She could see what appeared to be a modified military issued jeep swerving through some minor traffic while someone dangled from the passenger's side. "What the hell?"

"Look at that." Meg called out to her, pointing at the yellow motorbike which was quickly catching up to the jeep.

"What the hell are they doing?" Lucy wondered as she watched the biker leap onto the jeep.

"I don't know but they seem to have the situation under control." Angel replied as she checked the digital map in front of her to see where they were at. She scanned the radio frequencies for any news and found numerous Spanish reporters chattering on about the death and chaos on the roads. They yammered on about it, but provided no real details of any use. That is until they said a word, a word she hadn't quite remembered at first but when she did it took her slightly by surprise.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked noticing the look on her face.

"I think that reporter just said 'tank'." Angel said looking over at her.

"You think? You're not sure? What word did he use?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Whatever word it was, I'm positive he meant tank." Meg said assuredly.

"How would you know you don't even speak Spanish?" Lucy said looking back at her.

Meg pointed out in front of the chopper, "Because there's a tank up ahead."

"Holy shit." Lucy and Angel gasped in unison. They watched as the tank's gun raised up and shot a round at a nearby bridge, it crumbled down around the cars underneath it effectively trapping pedestrians.

"How far is the med and rescue squads?" Angel called out to Meg.

"It's hard to tell, they were having trouble making it through all the shit back there."

Angel shook her head, "We don't have that kind of time. There are people down there that are going to die if they don't get some help." She unbuckled her safety belt and removed her helmet. "You keep on ahead, see if you can cut them off or at least contain the damage. Radio the med and rescue squads, tell them to get some choppers in here now and we need ground support as soon as possible too."

"What the hell are you gonna do?" Lucy asked hesitantly.

Angel was already out of her seat, her Python on her hip and her automatic rifle slung across her back as she attached the repelling harness to her belt and opened the side door. "Hold her steady I'm going to go down there and try and help some of these people."

"Not by yourself you're not." Meg said as she strapped the second harness to herself, grabbing her gun and the onboard med kit.

There wasn't any time to argue with her, so with a nod of her head to Lucy they began their descent. Hitting the ground with her full weight on her ankle caused her to wince but she kept the pain to herself, quickly detaching the rope and waving Lucy off she and Meg quickly got to work.

* * *

"Do we have eyes on Toretto or Shaw?" Luke called out to Riley as he checked the controls.

"Negative, I think they're still a few miles up." Riley replied as she checked the navigation system. "Radar is picking up another chopper in the immediate area though."

"How far?"

"A few miles away, seems to be directly where we need to be." Riley answered.

_It could be back up for Shaw._ He thought to himself, quickly dialing in the frequency to the radio's Dom and his team were using he called out to them. "Be advised we have a chopper in the area, we're on our way just a few minutes out but we're seeing a chopper right by you guys."

It's just static for a few moments before he gets a response. It's Tej, "Yeah I saw it go fly over me just a few minutes after I saw the tank. It seemed to be heading in that direction but I didn't see it fire or anything."

"Where are you now?"

"I was trying to catch up but there were a lot of cars wrecked and there's an overpass up ahead that took a hit so I'm not gonna make it."

Luke could hear the frustration in Tej's voice. "Just hang tight, we'll settle this with Shaw and come by to get you when it's done."

* * *

Tej looked up ahead, there was nowhere left for him to move. Cars were blocking his path forward and he couldn't make it to the other side of the highway either. He could see that the cars had been abandoned, some squashed beyond recognition, no doubt having been run over by the tank itself. Others were charred black to the point that he was unable to make out the model of the vehicle. Thankfully he didn't see much bodies lying around, just two corpses so far but everyone else had seemed to make a run for it before the shit hit the fan. A

As he walked further away from his truck he noticed the destruction got a little worse, and finally when he drew closer to where the overpass had crumbled he saw the injured. Those that could still walk were trying their best to move the ones that couldn't to a safer location. Some were just laid out on the asphalt groaning in agony. There was blood, sweat, and tears on all of them and he found himself coughing though he couldn't tell if it was the smell of smoke or of burnt skin that was causing it.

He could hear shouting not too far away, not cries for help. The voices were somewhat calm, as he drew closer he could hear them clearly. "Angel I need help setting his leg." He could see a small red headed woman hunched over a man who was covered in dirt. His leg twisted unnaturally he could see the bone protruding from slightly from the cloth of his pants. He took a few steps closer only to stop suddenly when the redhead turned and pointed her pistol at him.

"Who are you?" She asked moving in front of the injured man to shield him from potential fire.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa I'm not one of the bad guys." Tej said in his defense quickly holding his hands up.

"You have a pair of binoculars on you and a gun on your hip, you have 30 seconds to explain before my friend there puts a bullet in your head." A voice to his left said casually.

He chanced a glance in her direction and saw a brunette standing just a few feet away, gun in one hand and a back pack in the other. "My name is Tej Parker, I'm with the good guys." He stuttered nervously, his gaze shifting between the two women.

"Well that's really helpful." The brunette replied sarcastically. "If you're with the good guys, what's your leader's name?"

"Dominic Toretto," Tej answered, "but we're working under Special Agent Luke Hobbs, he's with DSS." He added hesitantly hoping they'd recognize a name and put the gun down.

"Oh you know the big guy." The red head smiled as she lowered her gun and resumed tending to the injured man.

"Sorry about that." The brunette said as she walked up to him, "You can lower your hands now."

"Are you ladies with DSS too?" he asked as he followed the brunette over to the redhead. He glanced appreciatively at them both. Despite the dire circumstances there was no denying that they were very beautiful women. _No wonder Luke loves his job._ He thought to himself.

"Not exactly." The redhead replied.

Suddenly his radio went off, something was messing with the signal and it came through as indistinct chatter, hard for him to make out exactly what was being said. After a few seconds he could capture the gist of the conversation. Roman was in trouble and the guys were scrambling to help him.

"You okay?" The brunette asked, no doubt noticing the look on his face.

"Nothing's really going according to plan." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah life has a funny way of doing that to you." The brunette replied quickly pulling out her radio. "Lucy you got eyes on the tank?"

"I just narrowly dodged one of its shells but yeah I got eyes on it."

"What the hell is going on?"

"Honestly…all hell's breaking loose and right now the tank is riding what appears to be a white mustang."

"That's Roman's car." Tej said worriedly.

"Angel it's getting pretty bad." Lucy said, the exasperation clear in her voice.

"Fuck." Angel muttered under her breath before replying, "Could you take a clear shot at the tank?" She hadn't wanted to blow it off the road but it's taking far too many casualties.

"Not without taking out that Mustang and I'm pretty sure the driver is still in it."

"You can't do that." Tej added somewhat frantically. "We got someone on board the tank." He watched as the brunette turned to him quickly.

"What do you mean you have someone on board the tank?"

"It's a long story." Tej said with a sigh. He watched as the brunette shot a look at the red head.

"Go on Angel, I've got this." The red head said with a nod of her head.

The brunette nodded back, "Is that your truck?" She asked Tej as she pointed to the black jeep.

"Yeah."

"Grab your gun and come with me."

* * *

"I've got eyes on the tank." He heard Riley call out, he pushed the controls forward flying as low as he felt was safe. He could see the white Mustang pinned out in front of the tank being pushed around like a little toy car. It'd be a hard shot to make but he's confident he'd be able to make it. Then it dawns on him that taking the shot isn't an option since Letty is most likely still on board the tank.

He quickly raises the chopper, narrowly missing the small blue car as it flew over the median and onto the side landing just behind the tank. "That's gotta be Brian." He said as he zooms in for a closer look. He watched anxiously as he drove past the tank and pulled out in front by the mustang.

"What the hell are they doing?" Riley asked. They both watched as Roman makes the leap from the Mustang just as it's trampled by the tank, landing safely on Brian's car.

"They're fucking crazy." Riley said with a shake of her head.

Luke watched as the crumpled mustang dragged behind the tank as it continued it's onslaught. _This has to end._ He thought to himself as he searched his mind for any possible options.

"Who's that?" Riley asked pointing out in the distance a black jeep which seemed to be gaining speed.

"I don't know." He checked the road below him, Brian and Toretto's cars were accounted for, and Roman's was currently being dragged like a little toy car. "Tej is that you?" He called out on the radio hoping for a quick reply.

"Yeah it's me." The reply is somewhat garbled by the static over the line but he's relieved to hear it's another one for their team.

"What are you doing?" Luke watched curiously as the jeep closed the distance to the tank. Tej didn't reply but he could guess it's because the man had both hands on that steering wheel, busy trying to avoid being squished to a pulp by the tank as it swerved to the side in an attempt to catch him.

Before he could move in for a closer look he narrowly misses colliding with another chopper. "What the hell!" he could hear Riley call out. He put his hand on the controls, his finger hovering over the trigger to the turrets on the chopper as he keeps the unidentified chopper square in his sights.

"Do we know if this is with Shaw or a friendly?" Luke asked Riley.

"I say we blow it out of the sky and figure it out later." Riley replied, urging him to fire.

Luke hesitated, if he were to shoot the chopper directly above the road the fall out would be problematic to say the least. Then he realized that the chopper didn't quite seem interested in shooting him down either. "Scan the frequencies and see if you can pick em up." He asked.

Riley found it within a few seconds, "Unknown aircraft identify yourself." She gave it a few moments before trying again. "Identify yourself or we'll be forced to open fire."

"I'd like to see you try." Came the swift reply in a familiar voice.

"Lucy?" Luke asked surprised.

"Oh hey big guy. Miss me?"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well that's not the response I was looking for." Lucy said jokingly.

_Wait, if she's here then…_ "Where's Angel?"

Silence. Nothing but static on the line, but he knows it's not that the signal was lost. "Lucy, where's Angel?" He repeated himself, his voice very serious.

"Um… she's on the ground."

"Where exactly?!" Luke asked worriedly before feeling Riley tap him on the shoulder.

She pointed down below them to the small figure standing on the door frame of Tej's jeep, "I think that's her." Riley called out just as the figure leaps forward onto the tank.

* * *

She landed on the tank with a grunt, quickly grabbing onto the cold metal to avoid falling off. Her ankle throbbed painfully and she could feel her biceps burn as she hoisted herself up on top of the tank. Just as she gained her footing she noticed a young woman perched precariously on the edge of the tank, just above the gun. _What the fuck?_ She wondered before dropping herself into the conveniently opened hatch.

She landed in a crouch, teeth clenched tightly as the pain in her ankle grew worse. She stood slowly, pulling her gun from its holster and aiming carefully at the back of Owen's head. She figured they must have been expecting that woman up on the hood of the tank because neither of the men turn around to see who just dropped in to their tank.

Instead the man to the left of Shaw simply shakes his head, clearly annoyed. "The car is still dragging Letty, get back out there and…" He began to turn in his chair, no doubt to belittle whoever this 'Letty' girl was but before he can even finish his next word she delivers a swift kick to his face knocking him out of his chair. He lands sprawled out on the cramped floor, out like a light.

Owen as always, remained focused on the task at hand. He didn't even bother to turn around and acknowledge what had just happened. "I've been expecting you." He said nonchalantly.

"Stop the tank." She doesn't feel like talking to him, and she'd really prefer to not have to shoot him but she will if it comes to that.

"I can't do that." He moved the controls and she could see through his screen that he was repositioning the turret.

"Stop moving the tank and shut it down." She said a little more forcefully. She might not be able to see his face but she's sure that he's smirking.

"Or you'll what?" His hands still move across the control board. "You'll kill me?" He let out a low chuckle.

Her grip on her pistol tightened, "I'd rather not have it come to that Owen. Just stop the damned tank and let's walk out of here like nice civil people."

"Just a moment and I'll be right with you." He said as he finished aiming the turret across the highway, "Here's your girl." He muttered quietly, "And your happy ending."

She watched as his finger drew closer to the trigger, and so she squeezed hers. The two shots she fired weren't deafening in the confined space, thankfully she hadn't used her python. That would've left her deaf, instead she opted for a lovely little toy she rarely had the opportunity to use.

She watched as Owen slumped out of his chair to the ground, his legs completely limp and his arms hanging down at his sides. The two small darts hung out of his back right between his shoulder blades and he made a clumsy attempt to reach for them. "A Tranquilizer?" He slurred.

"Hey I gave you the opportunity to walk." She replied with a slight smile, he smiled slightly in return before his head slumped forward. In the quiet space inside the tank she can hear the static of her radio and the frantic sound of Lucy's voice that accompanies it.

"Angel get the hell out of the tank!" Before she can react or respond she heard the terrible sound of metal twisting and she felt herself lose her footing tumbling head over heels. Her body collided with Owen's and his soldier before she felt her back hit the cool hard steel of the tank wall. The various controls, screens and mechanisms digging into her already sore body as she attempted to wriggle herself free from the two unconscious men covering her legs.

She heard the muffled chirping and static of her radio and after a few minutes of rummaging in the darkness she finds it. "Angel come in…" Lucy called desperately.

"I'm here." She groaned out as she tried to sit up.

"Oh thank god. Are you hurt?"

"Um…" her entire body was throbbing, and muscles she never even knew she had were aching. "nah I'm fine." She lied to put her friend at ease.

"Just hang tight we're coming to get you."

"Wait Lucy…"

"What?"

"Uh does Luke know I'm in the tank?" _Maybe if I'm lucky he won't even find out that I jumped onto this monstrosity._ She hoped silently as she waited for Lucy's response. Before it came she could hear the rusty groaning of metal above her and quickly gripped the sides of the walls tightly as she felt the tank rock back and forth.

Suddenly she's blinded by sunlight as the emergency hatch which had been on the floor of the tank burst open. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brightness but once they do she'd greeted by a familiar yet stern face.

"Yeah," Luke said with a shake of his head. "I saw everything."

* * *

Good evening everyone...I know it's been forever since i've updated, sorry. Thanks for still being interested in my story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always thank you for reading, writing, fav'ing, and reviewing.


End file.
